


Come See A Show With Me

by hoshikashipan



Category: Love Live! School Idol Project
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Punk, Angst, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Implied Sexual Content, Mostly Fluff, References to Drugs, Sex is mentioned, Slight Aqours cameos, will probably add more tags later
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-04
Updated: 2018-03-14
Packaged: 2018-10-14 15:15:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 21,663
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10539093
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hoshikashipan/pseuds/hoshikashipan
Summary: Umi reluctantly goes to see a local band with her boss not expecting much, but is surprisingly blown away. No not by the music itself mostly by the very attractive singer who seems to have taken an interest in her.





	1. Beautiful Stranger

**Author's Note:**

> Hey I'm starting another project! I'm sorry that there is a hiatus on my other work Nico Nico Neet, but I've just had no inspiration for it. I'll attempt to update this one frequently. There never seems to be enough of the "hipster ship fics" for me. And yes the first chapter is named after a Madonna song.

 Umi isn’t usually the type to go out on Friday nights. She’d rather spend her night at home cooking dinner with her roommates, and the three of them watching a movie or playing games until they got tired. It may seem boring, but it’s just what she prefers. Though on this particular night her manager Nozomi invited her out to watch a local band play.

“How did you hear about this band anyway?” Umi asks as she follows Nozomi and her girlfriend Eli to the venue.

“A girl that I interviewed for the new job opening mentioned it,” she responds. “Apparently, she’s the drummer.”

“We haven’t even hired her yet. So why are we going to listen to her band?” It seems strange that someone in that line of work would want to work part time as a barista, but she doesn’t question it further.

“I figured that this would be a better chance to get to know her,” she explains. “We can experience her true personality and emotions through her music. I’m sure you understand what I mean, Umi-Chan, you are a musician after all.”

Umi somewhat regrets telling her boss about her passion for the violin, but it’s completely different from some local indie band. She’s about to respond but is interrupted by Eli’s excited cheers. “Exactly! I think it would be a good way to bond with her,” Eli exclaims, “Plus it’s been too long since I’ve seen a concert. My last one was probably when we were in college.”

“I’ve seen a few performances at this place. Some indie bands that you probably wouldn’t be too interested in, Elicchi.”

“Hmm it depends on what kind of music they play. I’m pretty open to all genres.”

“The indie sound is pretty different nowadays,” she responds as if she’s experienced the years of changes in the indie genre firsthand. “It’s much more experimental than it used to be.”

“You’ll have to take me to one of those sometime. It sounds pretty interesting.”

Her face brightens. “Of course! We can make it a date.”

“What kind of venue is this? It’s not dangerous, is it?”

Nozomi chuckles not minding the interruption. “Of course not, Umi-Chan. The people there are just there to listen to some quality local music. The only potential harm would be the bar, but that’s of course optional. Besides I wouldn’t bring you AND my girlfriend somewhere dangerous without telling either of you.”

“Um thank you,” she responds. At least Nozomi would be kind enough to tell the truth.

They arrive at a building and go inside and down a set of stairs. The place is a fair size, but only big enough to fit about fifty people. About fifteen people are inside. Some seated at the bar and others sitting at tables eating fries and chatting. The environment seems pretty friendly so far, so that calms Umi for the meantime.

“Umi-chan, we’re going to get some drinks; do you want anything?”

“I’d just like a soda.”

“Aw c’mon,” Nozomi urges. “You don’t have school or work tomorrow, so you might as well go wild.”

“I’d rather not,” she mumbles. “I lose control when I get drunk. I don’t want my boss to see that.”

“Good point. We’ll be right back.”

As they walk away Umi notices the band setting up in the front. Two girls who appear to be pretty young are carrying in an amplifier. Another girl with her hair tied in pigtails carries out two guitars. Umi can’t tell in the light but she swears she sees scissors in the girl’s hand. She ignores this and just looks at the girl’s face. She looks stern almost angry. Like she was just insulted right before setting up her equipment. Before Umi realizes it, the girl has a microphone in her hand.

“Hello everyone,” she taps the microphone to get her audience’s attention. “Thanks for coming out tonight. We’re supposed to start playing in the next five seconds, but **someone** didn’t do their job and bring the equipment out at the right time. So, I, Nico Yazawa, will provide an opening act for my adoring fans.” She holds up the scissors and Umi’s face pales. “I want to hear some cheers alright?”

“Woo! Niccochi!”

Umi turns to see Nozomi shouting next to her. “Nozomi! Don’t encourage her! She might hurt someone with those scissors!”

“Ssh just watch,” she instructs and points to the girl onstage.

“Thanks for your encouraging shout, Nozomi!” She raises the scissors to her right pigtail… **Snip**! The clump of hair falls to the floor, and she nonchalantly kicks it offstage. She cuts off her second pigtail and points at someone in the crowd. “Nozomi catch!” She throws it at Nozomi who catches it without much effort. “That was fun… The show will begin in a few minutes so enjoy yourselves.”

“What the hell...?” Umi can’t comprehend what she just watched. “You know that girl, Nozomi?”

“Yup she was a college friend of mine,” she announces proudly. She hands Umi her soda and takes a sip from the bottle she’s drinking out of. “I’ll be honest I didn’t know she was involved in this until a few days ago. Not too long after I interviewed the drummer.”

“She was our roommate,” Eli continues, “she’s definitely gotten wilder over the years. I never thought in a million years that she’d chop all her hair off. Especially not onstage with an audience watching… Well maybe that part I could see.”

“That girl seems insane,” she mumbles.

“Kinda,” Nozomi agrees.

As they wait for the band to come back out they hear shouts from backstage. “Nico-Chan! Why did you cut you hair off?”

“I don’t know! I needed something to stall the audience! I’ve been needing to change my hairstyle anyway!”

Nozomi chuckles after hearing this. “She definitely hasn’t changed much. In all honesty I doubt she was even thinking when she cut her hair.”

“That reminds me... “Eli begins to tell a story but is interrupted by applause from the small audience.

The band members had rushed onto the stage and are apologizing for the delay. They start to play and the girl playing the bass guitar starts to sing. “Kaeri ni chiizubaagaa mogumogu!” Then the drummer. “Sore yori raamen! Tsurutsuru!” And then Nico. “Joshi nara waffuru mofumofu!”

Her singing voice is much softer than Umi expected. Very unlike her speaking voice and seemingly out of character. Nonetheless she enjoys hearing it. Nico is also very talented on guitar as Umi could hear. She pretty much held up the band with her singing and guitar playing. Her now short hair getting more into the light is revealed to have streaks of pink in it. As they get more into the song she’s obviously becoming more and more tired and sweaty. Umi realizes she’s staring and snaps her eyes away. How long has she been staring? How shameless of her! It sounds like they’re on the next song now. It has a completely different feel than the last one which makes her wonder why she didn’t notice the sudden change.

She tries to revert her attention back to the music, and even glances at Nozomi to see if she’s focused. She’s watching the performance like a mother watching her child perform in the school play for the first time. “Something wrong, Umi-Chan?”

“Guh!” She didn’t realize that the older girl caught her staring. “N-Nothing I was just seeing how you and Eli are enjoying this.”

Nozomi smirks. “We’re both very proud of, Niccochi. You seem to be enjoying yourself as well.” She winks and continues to watch the performance.

The band plays about four more songs, but all of them go by in a blur for Umi. She’s unconsciously focused on Nico the whole time. The sweat dripping from her by the fifth song and the facial expressions she made when pronouncing some of the phrases. The way her eyes lit up after the audience applauded after each song. Sort of like she was just happy that this many people came to see her in the first place. And just the way she-

“Umi-Chan, are you listening to me?”

“Huh?!”

“We’re going to congratulate, Niccochi. Want to come with us?”

“Oh yeah sure.” She pulls herself together and follows Nozomi and Eli backstage.

When they get back Nico’s running her hands through her hair almost in disbelief. She stops and smiles when she sees them walk in. “So what did you guys think?”

“You did wonderful!” Eli claps her hands together. “I’m amazed at how much you’ve improved since college!”

 “I loved it!” Nozomi wraps her arms around her. “You played so well Niccochi!”

The girl in question smiles proudly as if she knew they were going to say that. It really is like when parents proudly praise their children after a school performance. “Well I am Nico Yazawa! How could I possibly fail?” Umi rolls her eyes at this comment. Despite how intimidating she may look she’s very childish. “Oh? Who’s this?” She makes her voice sound more mature and less like it was just a second ago.

“Ah I’m Nozomi’s coworker,” she hears the nervousness in her voice. “I’m Umi Sonoda.”

“I told you about, Umi-Chan, Niccochi. Why are you acting like you weren’t excited to meet her?”

“W-What do you mean? I don’t have any reason to be!”

“Sure you don’t,” she chuckles. “Anyway what did you think of her performance, Umi-Chan?”

“I really enjoyed it. You’re very talented, Nico-San.”

 She snaps out of her flustered tone and becomes boastful again. “Don’t be so formal. I’m not **that** important,” she chuckles. “I hope you come see me play again. We’re here every Friday. We’ll have new songs by then too! It’s my Nico Nii promise!”

 

* * *

 

 

Monday rolls around and Umi is less than enthusiastic. Mondays are one of the days where she has work and school in the same day. School in the morning and then work in the afternoon. Her roommates are much luckier when it comes to the first day of the week. Honoka is usually off of both school and work while Kotori just has school. Though Kotori and her get up around the same time so she likes to make breakfast while Umi gets herself dressed. After eating and chatting with her roommate she heads to school.

She doesn’t mind school at all, but it’s just the stress of having homework and not being able to do it until after work that gets to her. Studying can be hard too when the pressure of work gets to her. Plus, she enjoys listening to her professors’ lectures. Her professors during her first year were very boring and nearly put her to sleep every class. She always had to stop to get a coffee before going to those classes which was what led her to finding the newly opened Lily White café and its manager Nozomi struggling to keep it afloat. Luckily she applied nearly a week after her visit; not just out of pity for the struggling café owner, but also because finding places to play her violin at for money had proved to be difficult.

Though her only class on Mondays is music theory which she thoroughly enjoys. She always comes out of that class feeling as though it’ll help a lot with her playing. As she makes her way to Lily White she thinks about what Nozomi would do if she quit to pursue a more music based career. It’s a dream of hers, but a big part of her doesn’t want to leave her kind boss behind after all she’d done for her over two years. When she enters the café Nozomi’s waiting for her. Today she has a certain gleam in her eyes like she wants to tell her something important or exciting.

“Good afternoon, Nozomi,” she greets taking her schoolbag to the staffroom.

She follows her still with a gleam in her eyes. “Umi-Chan, guess what?”

She glances at her curiously as she puts her things away. “What? Did you hire that drummer girl or something?”

“You’re right! She’ll be here any minute now then she can begin her training.”

“That’s great.”

“I know cooking isn’t your specialty, but could you show her around in the kitchen?”

“That’s no problem,” she responds and shoos her away so she can change into her uniform.

The front door chimes and a voice calls out. “Nozomi-senpai! I’m here for my training!”

“Hello Rin-Chan!” Nozomi begins showing her around while Umi starts her daily tasks. Mainly her job here is working the front desk and the register. She also serves and prepares coffee for their customers. Nozomi works in the kitchen and on the business, related aspects of the café. It’s mainly just her and Umi who run the place while another girl, whom of which Umi has never met, covers her when she has school or just can’t come in. It’s nice to finally get another helping hand in this place even if she’s from some unheard of local band.

Usually the customers just get their food from the front desk, but since Rin is now on board Lily White will finally have a waitress. Umi figures that she’ll will probably be helping in the kitchen too. It can be pretty stressful when she and Nozomi have to double task. Also, because she isn’t the best cook, and Nozomi needed someone with more experience. She’s asked if the other girl who covers for her could do that, but she’s been told countless times that she has other responsibilities that conflict with the times that they would need her.

“Alright that’s the basics. Think you understand?”

Rin nods enthusiastically. “Yup! But where are all of the customers now?”

“We’re usually busier around the times that school and work let out,” she explains leading her over to Umi. “Anyway this of course is Umi-Chan.”

“Hi, Umi-San! I’m excited to be working with you!”

She smiles and shakes her hand. “I am as well. I was impressed by your performance on Friday.” Even though she paid more attention to Nico than the girl in front of her that night she doesn’t want to sound rude. “You had a very… Consistent beat. It really helped to hold everything together.”

“Aw thank you, nya! You should come see us perform again this Friday! Nico-Chan always promises that we’ll have new songs every week!”

“If I have no other plans then I would love to,” she responds smiling at Rin. Though it just hit her how hard it must be to write new songs every week. With just three people it can’t be easy. And Rin even has the time to get a part time job in between all the work she must be contributing to her band. It all sounds very stressful.

They continue to talk as Umi shows her around the kitchen and Nozomi gets things together for the upcoming customers. “Is this and the band all that you do?”

“Nope! I’m also a student!”

“Wha- How are you able to juggle so many things at once? It must be very overwhelming.”

“Not really,” she chuckles. “It’s never that stressful to me. Well maybe because I’m used to it.”

“I could barely juggle holding this job and my first year of college when I first started working here,” she sighs.

“Mastering the art of juggling takes years of practice, nya,” Rin remarks as if it’s the wisest statement anyone ever made. “I may seem like an expert, but during high school I couldn’t juggle track, softball, some basketball, and of course my classes, so I just skipped class and never did much homework.”

“So you’re the master of finding shortcuts that don’t benefit you in the long run?”

“Nyah! Don’t sound so cruel! I eventually found a way to do all!”

Umi chuckles. She’s thinking that she’ll enjoy the presence of her newest coworker more than she thought before. Though whenever she sees her she can’t help, but think about Nico and the worry she feels when thinking about possibly seeing her again.


	2. An Emotional Cheesecake

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Umi takes time away from studying to invite a familiar face over for cheesecake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow this took longer than I expected. I'm just going to give the usual excuse of exams and schoolwork, but I'm so happy I have this chapter out. I hope everyone enjoys.

“Umi–Chan! Did you hear me?”

Umi wakes up with a jolt. She’s at her desk studying for her test the next day. She wonders how long she’s been asleep. “What’s wrong Honoka?”

Her roommate is standing at her door looking amused. “Dinner’s ready. Aw, I feel bad waking you up now; you looked so peaceful in your sleep. Now you look tired and stressed again.”

She ignores the last part. “Already? That was fast.”

“Well you’ve been sleeping for over an hour so…”

“An hour?! Why didn’t you wake me up? I have a test tomorrow! I need to study as much as I can before then!”

Honoka looks unaffected by her frustrated tone. “You needed a break, Umi-Chan! You’ve been studying all day!”

“I know I just…”

“And aren’t you already prepared enough? You got all A’s last semester too! You’re too smart to have to study!”

“Am not!” Umi argues. “If I don’t study my grades will drop significantly!”

“So your 100% will go down to 99%?” she has hint of sarcasm in her voice. “That’s really no big deal!”

Before things could get too heated they hear Kotori shout “Hurry up! Dinner’s going to get cold!” They put their argument on hold and walk in their dining room/kitchen to see that she set the table already, and their plates all had curry rice on it.

As Umi eats her curry rice her mind starts to drift. She hasn’t seen Nico since the last Friday. It’s Thursday now. Ever since Rin started working at the café she persisted that Umi come to their upcoming show that Friday, but the more she asked the more nervous Umi felt. She started giving Rin possible excuses and saying things like “my roommates might want to go holiday shopping.” Though it’s not that she wouldn’t enjoy the music, but ever since Rin first brought it up she’s felt nervous. She doesn’t even know why. Maybe it was because of how intimidating Nico was or maybe the atmosphere of the venue in general or it was the thought of having to make awkward small talk with her or-

“Umi-Chan!”

“Eh?”

“See? This is why you shouldn’t study so much. You’ve been zoning out.”

“Honoka, you’re the last person that should be giving me study advice!”

“Did you hear what we said?” Kotori interjects.

“No?”

“Would you like to bring some cheesecake to your coworkers tomorrow? We’re going to be making some for dessert tonight.”

“Oh yeah- Sure they’d appreciate that. Nozomi always brings in homemade chocolates that she made for, Eli-San, but were leftovers. I’ve been meaning to give her something in return.”

“What a lovey dovey couple,” Honoka coos. “It must be tough for Eli-Chan to give away her leftover chocolate.”

“Nozomi-Chan probably does it so she doesn’t give herself a stomachache,” Kotori giggles imagining the situation clear as day. The usually calm and serious Eli begging her girlfriend not to bring the extra chocolate to her coworkers despite being on the verge of a terrible stomachache. “Eli-Chan can’t control herself when it comes to chocolate!”

Umi can’t help but to snort at that. “That sounds like something you’d have to do for, Honoka.”

“Hey I’d know when to stop!” That sends the other two into fits of laughter while Honoka keeps shouting that she can control herself.

“What if… You had an entire pantry filled from top to bottom with bread? Would you control yourself then?”

“Wha-? Um… Dammit, Umi-Chan you big meanie! Kotori-Chan, tell her to stop bullying me!”

 She giggles “Umi-Chan is only messing around with you.” She claps her hands together. “Honoka-Chan and I should start preparing our cheesecake! So that means, you get cleaning duty tonight, Umi-Chan!”

“That’s miles better than studying!” Honoka chimes in, which Umi can’t help but internally disagree with her.

She starts to pick up the dishes from the table but is interrupted by an “Oh no!” from Kotori. “What’s wrong?”

“I forgot to get cream cheese at the store yesterday!”

“Don’t worry I can just walk to the convenience store down the street,” Umi offers.

“You don’t have to! It’s way too cold for that!”

She puts on her coat. “I’ll be fine.”

As she walks out Honoka shouts “Wait does this mean I have cleaning duty now?! Umi-Chan be quick so Kotori-Chan won’t make me do your work!”

She chuckles as she closes the door. Luckily for Honoka the trip won’t take long at all. She’s already outside of the apartment complex making her way to the store almost a minute later. Though Kotori was right. It’s very cold and the winds are picking up more as she walks. She begins to break into a sprint from not being able to take the cold for much longer. The convenience store luckily has heating which instantly warms her up the moment she walks inside.

“Good evening ma’am,” a young man at the counter greets her unenthusiastically. He looks sleep deprived and excited for his shift to end. She just nods and smiles politely at him and goes to find the cream cheese. She can’t help but feel slight pity for him because of his miserable expression.

She goes to the cold food section and searches for the cream cheese. She wonders if she should pick up any whipped cream too; though knowing Kotori she probably already-

“Umi-Chan!”

“What?” She turns to see a familiar guitarist with a bag of donuts in her hands and a huge grin on her face. “Nico, what are you doing here?”

“I’m just getting back from visiting my mom,” she says her pink streaks appearing shinier in the fluorescent light. “Do you live close to here?”

Umi is caught off guard and a nervous feeling grows larger inside of her. Though her logical side is wondering how a small girl with a large bag of donuts and a huge grin on her face could be so intimidating. She maintains her composure and smiles. “Yes, it’s only a five-minute walk. My roommates are making a cheesecake and forgot the cream cheese so here I am.”

“Ooh I love cheesecake! Save some for me.”

“Well I plan to give some to Nozomi when I see her at work, so I can ask her to save a little for you.”

“Wow she’s so lucky to have an employee that brings in homemade cheesecake for her,” she comments. “My band members never give me sweets. Well… Hanayo-Chan always packs rice balls for all of us, but never anything like sweet or sugary.”

Umi finds herself easily swayed by Nico’s pitiful expression and says “Want to come over and have some with us?” before she even realizes it. She’s a complete stranger what am I thinking?! She silently scolds herself.

Her eyes widen. “Seriously? That would be okay?”

“Y-Yeah it won’t be a problem. My roommates love meeting new people.”

“Welp I am pretty new,” she comments, “well at least to you. Wait! As thanks, you and your roommates can take these,” she points to her bagful of donuts.

She’s about to refuse but remembers something her mother always said ‘It’s not polite to accept a gift right away.’ “Thank you I appreciate that.”

So Umi arrives back at her place with the short singer with her. Honoka opens the door and her mouth drops open in surprise. “Umi-Chan hardly brings anyone home! Aww she’s finally making friends! Kotori-Chan c’mere! Umi-Chan finally made a new friend!”

Umi blushes. “This is Nico Yazawa,” she introduces to her roommates, and hands the cream cheese to Kotori who rushes to the kitchen to start her cheesecake. “She’s the lead singer and guitarist in the band Nozomi took me to see last week.”

“It’s so nice to meet you Nico-San!” Kotori calls from the kitchen.

“You don’t have to be so formal,” she calls back. “Informalities are more natural to me anyway, but I guess not when it comes to the business of the music industry.”

“Ooh a musician!” Honoka looks impressed. “I’ve heard from Umi-Chan that you’re very talented!”

 An eager smile forms on her face. “I enjoy being praised, but my band isn’t as popular as she probably made it sound.”

“It should be,” Umi says. “The three of you are very talented.”

“That’s nice of you to say, but we’re not so great when it comes to trying to write new songs. We’ve been out of inspiration for a few weeks now. We have someone helping us with the instrumentation though,” she noticeably cringes. “My other bandmates have a roommate who composes music. She gives us advice though it’s mostly written by the three of us.”

“What do you do for lyrics?”

She shrugs. “We do our best. Do you compose your own music, Umi-Chan?”

“No, I’m not good at that sort of thing.” She stops to think for a second. “I don’t remember ever telling you that I played an instrument.”

“Oh! I’ve heard some of your violin covers before we met last week,” she responds seemingly brushing it off. “I knew that I had heard your name from somewhere before.”

“I didn’t think Umi-Chan put her covers online,” Honoka chimes in.

“Sometimes,” she responds, “I only have three or four videos up right now. The one I’m happiest with is my cover of Sinfonia in C Major. I’d enjoy playing my original music, but I’m not very good at composing. Plus, playing is more of a hobby anyway.”

“Then why is your major music theory?” Kotori asks teasingly.

“Because there’s no major in running a dojo.”

“I remember you were really good at poetry,” she has a grin on her face that resembled one of a young child who’s about to get in trouble, but doesn’t regret it. “They were always so cute and full of emotion. They seemed like love songs most of the time to me.”

“Honoka, most of my poems were about the flowers in our school’s garden! I wouldn’t write about something so shameless!”

“You can write lyrics? Maybe you could hook up with our composer. You two could probably make a beautiful romantic peace about flowers,” Nico comments teasingly.

“That’s doesn’t sound terrible, though no romantic songs about flowers. I’m serious. I refuse to write a romantic song.”

“Aww but the two of you would work great together!”

“Ooh! Maybe Umi-Chan and her will start dating!” Kotori chirps from the kitchen.

“Wait what…?” Her face goes bright red. “I-I don’t think that’s what she meant by ‘hook up…’”

Honoka laughs and winks at the singer. “She get embarrassed pretty easily.”

“I can tell,” Nico joins in. “How cute…”

“Isn’t Umi-Chan so cute,” she teases wrapping her arms around her friend. “Maybe Kotori-Chan should bring out some of the outfits she made for you.”

“Honoka, we have company…”

“Outfits?” Nico looks interested… Too interested. “Do you make clothes, Kotori-Chan?”

The girl in question steps out of the kitchen and smiles. “I do actually. I’m in college for fashion and clothes designing. There are so many cute models there to make clothes for, but my favorite models are these two!” She shoots Honoka a devilish look and Umi tries not to wonder which of Honoka’s outfits she hasn’t seen.

“Have Umi model some of your outfits for her!” Honoka urges excitedly.

“Eeh? I don’t want to distract you two from your cheesecake!” She says quickly. “Kotori has school in the morning so she shouldn’t be up too late.”

Nico shoots a glance at her who becomes more embarrassed. “Hmm that’s true. Nico is important, but doesn’t want to be a nuisance to two nice girls she’s just met.”

“You two are right,” Kotori agrees. “I hate to say it but I should get this done before it gets too late.  Next time for sure, Nico-Chan?”

“Of course,” she smirks. “Now Nico has something to look forward to!”

“Aw I wanted to see, Umi-Chan in a cute outfit! It’s been way too long,” Honoka pouts and drapes herself over Umi.

“More like it hasn’t been long enough,” she mumbles. She doesn’t mind modeling for Kotori when it comes to school, but she doesn’t see the point in doing it if it won’t benefit her friend’s grade in school. And especially if it meant embarrassing herself in front of someone she barely knows.

The four of them go into the kitchen so they can continue talking while Kotori and Honoka continue making their cheesecake. “Speaking of outfits,” Kotori says, “does your band need any costumes for your performances?”

“I never thought about that! We usually just wear our everyday clothes,” she refers to the outfit she’s wearing which looks slightly similar to what she wore the last Friday. It’s very casual; plain black jeans, a grey long-sleeved sweater with some band logo on it that Umi doesn’t recognize, matching black boots, and a hair clip with what looks like a skull on it. “I’ve been wanting to get some cute styles into our band, but the three of us don’t exactly have enough money for costumes.”

“I never said you needed to pay me, Nico-Chan. I’ll make the three of you costumes if you need them.”

“Aww! Isn’t Kotori-Chan so kind?” Honoka wraps her arms around her.

“Wasn’t your latest project in your class to design costumes?” Umi asks remembering Kotori excitedly telling her and Honoka this the night before, and how they had helped her think of ideas and a theme for it.

“Um! Yes, but that has nothing to do with, Nico-Chan!”

“So you had ulterior motives huh?” Honoka loosens her hug.

Nico chuckles, “I don’t mind being used for your school project. If that’s the payment for some good quality costumes, it’s what I’ll do! Plus, Nico has always wanted to model a cute costume for a group of adoring fans!”

“What kind of crowd are you even trying to pull in?” Umi feels confused.

“Anyone who loves Nico!”

“What you’re aiming for seems more suited towards a pop singer or an idol.”

“Ooh!” Honoka’s beaming. Umi said the magic word. “Are you inspired by idols?”

“A little,” she winks. “I can sense that you’re a fellow fan!”

“Of course I am! Do you have a favorite group?”

“A-Rise has been my personal favorite since high school.”

“No way! Me too!”

Umi’s quickly losing interest in the conversation since she had never been as much as an idol fan as Honoka has. She glances at Kotori who’s smiling at the two fondly seemingly forgetting her cheesecake. She catches Umi looking and says “Looks like Honoka-Chan has a new friend! I’m glad she’s found someone else who loves idols.”

“I’m glad you two are getting along with, Nico. I was a little worried she’d feel out of place here.”

“You think so? By the way you described her, she seemed like someone who we’d all get along with.”

“Well that’s true… Though I’ve noticed she can be a little…”

“Closed off?”

“That too, but I was going to say that she can be a little odd.”

“Everyone’s a little odd, Umi-Chan.”

“You know what I mean,” she tries to explain. “Didn’t I tell you about her cutting her hair off onstage?”

“You did,” she seems to be pondering something. “Are you worried she’ll do something that drastic again?”

“Yes, that’s exactly it. I’d rather not see her harm herself let alone the people around her.”

“Aww, you must be very fond of her.”

“Eh? Why do you say that? I’ve barely known her a whole week.”

Kotori chuckles. “The way you talk about her is like how a schoolgirl talks about her crush. And it’s adorable, Umi-Chan. I’ve never seen you act like this!”

“Crush?!” She quickly becomes flustered. “Where did you get that indecent idea from?”

“I’m just teasing... Though you got more of a reaction out of that than I expected.” A small smirk forms on her face, “Don’t worry, Umi-Chan, I won’t tell.”

“Good, I don’t want you putting weird thoughts in Nico’s head.” She turns her head to Nico and Honoka to make sure they weren’t listening and sighs in relief. Though from listening their conversation topic has slightly changed.

“I know the feeling!” Honoka exclaims passionately. “I mean, just the other day I got caught watching idol videos in my class, and my professor had the nerve to say that idols are a waste of time!”

“I’ve never liked teachers too much,” Nico laughs in response. “I always got in trouble for reading idol magazines during class. My professors were never too happy about that.”

“I’d feel bad for not paying attention, but class is so boring!”

“Honoka-Chan! You got caught slacking off again?”

“Aah, Kotori-Chan! How long have you been listening?”

“Long enough to know that you’ve been up to no good again!” She teasingly scolds her. “Just what would your father think about this?” She points to Umi.

Umi quickly gets into character to amuse the two. “That’s right! I thought I raised you better than this!”

“But Mama… Papa…”

“No buts! You’re grounded young lady!” No one realized that Kotori would be such a strict mom before this moment. It was kind of scary to think that she might want to have kids one day.

“No idol videos for a month!” Umi chimes in.

“Noooooooooo!” Honoka shouts defeatedly and drops to the floor.

Nico laughs at the three wholeheartedly. “Jeez Honoka-Chan I didn’t realize you had such strict parents!”

“They’ll never let me watch idols in class ever again…”

“You’ll get to watch idols if you help me make this cheesecake,” Kotori tempts her. “Plus, I’ll let you lick the spoon!”

Honoka practically has fireworks going off in her eyes. “I love you, mom- Err I mean- Kotori-Chan!”

“Mom?” she laughs. “Looks like, Honoka-Chan might be banned from idols in school despite how helpful she is…” This earns a whine from Honoka which instinctively makes her laugh and pet her on the head. She can’t help but to tease her when her reactions are so cute.

“Speaking of school,” Umi suddenly feels curious. “Are you currently in university, Nico?”

“Nah I graduated last spring,” she leans against an unused kitchen counter. “I had a major in music theory.”

“No surprise there!” Honoka jumps in.

“What did you minor in?”

She sighs. “Psychology.”

“That doesn’t seem like a class you’d willingly take.”

“Trust me I completely hated it. It’s something I’d never want to experience again.”

“Did you have a reason to take it?”

“I mean, it seemed interesting, but when I got in on the first day I realized it was psychology and not philosophy, which I actually wanted to take.”

“Speaking of minors that weren’t very thought out,” Kotori shoots a knowing glance at Honoka.

She instinctively jumps. “Hey! I thought it would be useful if I ever wanted to take over my family’s sweet shop one day!”

“Isn’t that what your major in culinary is for?”

Nico smirks looking relieved that someone else’s poor decisions were at the forefront. “C’mon Honoka-Chan. You have to tell me, I’m interested.”

Kotori makes a motion to Umi who comes behind Honoka and pokes at her sides. “Aah! No fair!” Umi pokes faster causing her to almost drop a spoon that she’s holding. “Fine fine I’ll tell her!” She catches her breath. “It’s business and financing.”

Nico laughs. “I hardly even know you, but even I can tell that it’s not a good fit.”

“I know I know! It was a dumb idea!”

“She’s pretty easy to figure out… Though I guess that’s easier for me to say since I’ve known her since childhood.”

“Woah I’m impressed, Umi-Chan,” and she genuinely looks it. “I don’t think I’ve ever had friends for that long.”

“Oh? What about your bandmates?”

“I met Rin-Chan and Hanayo-Chan during high school. The three of us were like this,” she crosses her fingers, “and Rin-Chan and me always had a knack for getting in trouble. Though we hadn’t known each other since childhood. I don’t remember many of my childhood friends. I kinda knew Eli-Chan, but we didn’t become close until high school and university. And Nozomi-Chan usually had her way of following me around since high school, but I never really minded.”

“Were?” Honoka stops mixing the cheesecake batter easily distracted as always. “Did something happen?”

She sighs in response. “I don’t really want to talk about that.” Suddenly almost as if to cover her emotions she slips into talking into third person again. “But Nico has plenty of friends! And she still loves Rin-Chan and Hanayo-Chan no matter what!”

“Don’t worry us like that,” Kotori chuckles, “you sounded really upset for a minute there.”

“Nico is never sad!”

Umi cocks her eyebrow suspiciously, but doesn’t press further. “So what kind of trouble did you and Hoshizora-San used to get into? This would be valuable information seeing that she’s my coworker now.”

“Eh? Trouble?” She’s lying. “Nico never gets into trouble.” Definitely lying.

“Tickle her dammit!” Honoka whines. “She admitted to it before!”

“No! Nico did nothing!” Honoka’s about to drop her mixing spoon and tackle her, but Kotori stops her in mid leap.

“Honoka-Chan! Don’t get distracted I need your help!”

She sniffles. “I’m sorry Kotori-Chan! I just wanted someone else to feel my pain!”

“Don’t be silly, Honoka there’s nothing traumatic about being tickled!” She holds up a finger to her lips and smirks at Umi and Nico. In a swift movement, she extends her arms like she’s about to soothe the whiny Honoka, but uses this opportunity to tickle her more.

“Aaaa! Nooooo! Kotori-Chaaaaaan!”

“Heh.”

“Do you want to be tickled too, Nico-Chan?” Kotori teases.

“I suggest you tell your story if you want to avoid getting tickled,” Umi mumbles to her.

“Ugh fine,” she says impatiently. “Rin-Chan and me would do a lot of horrible things together which I obviously regret now. I’ll just give you the rundown since I’m not a fan of giving the details of this story. We’d steal, drink, smoke, and we had just been stereotypical delinquents. We had a helluva good time though. We were eventually found out and we promised never to do anything so stupid again.”

Umi could tell that there’s missing pieces in Nico’s story. She’d told it way too quick like she wanted to hide it or brush it under the rug, so no one would press further. Plus, she wonders how the bassist came into this. Had she been involved too? And how there was no way that they were became clean so quickly; there had to be something else. She has a strong desire to know the rest. To know the whole story and how it made Nico the girl she is today. She knows she probably shouldn’t but she opens her mouth “What about your bandmate the bassist?”

She’s surprised by the sudden question, but says “Her and my girlfriend at the time were the ones that caught us… I’m lucky I wasn’t dumped after that. Though… That’s another story… I’d rather not tell it today… It’s an overly long and sad story with too many clichés that’s better off being forgotten anyway…”

“I’m so sorry that you had to go through that,” Honoka cries wrapping her arms around her.

“Hey it’s over with now! I’m fine!”

“No you’re not,” Kotori argues and joins in on the hug. She pulls Umi into it too who blushes deeply at the sudden affection. Seeing how Nico doesn’t refuse the hug outright she probably needed it. Anyone in that situation probably would.

After several minutes of this Honoka chuckles. “It’s funny,” she smiles at Nico, “I feel like I’ve known you for much longer. It feels like you’re a relative that I hadn’t seen in a long time or something!”

“I feel the same way,” she responds. She looks at Umi with a look that was sad but somehow still appeared happy, and whispers, “Thank you for inviting me. I haven’t been able to spend time like this with people close to my age in such a long time.”

“You’re welcome to come here anytime; we’ve really enjoyed your company.”

“You’re so nice… Thank you very much…” Umi swears she hears a small sob come from her, but decides not to say anything. As the four of them continue to embrace, she can’t help but wonder what Nico’s band is like behind the scenes, and if this affects how she acted for part of her visit. What she said about hanging out with people around her age… Do her band members now count or is there something else going on? Something that Umi doesn’t grasp yet… She thinks about what she knows about Rin, but her relationship with her is definitely not the same as hers with Nico. For one they’d known each other much longer and secondly… Rin could have been part of the reason why she’s so emotionally hurt. Not to mention Hanayo... She doesn't even know her, and has no clue if she has anything to do with this either.


	3. Breaking the Girl

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After another day of work Umi and Nozomi decide to catch another one of Nico's shows.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woah hey! I finally finished this chapter! I had a lot of trouble with it in all honesty and almost 3 weeks ago I ended up scrapping all of my ideas for this chapter and starting new. I like this chapter I made a lot and I hope all of you will too! Thank you for being patient!  
> If you want to discuss/send ideas/check my progress go to my Tumblr and ask away: http://hoshikashipan.tumblr.com/

It had been a busy day at work and Umi’s unenthusiastically washing the remaining dishes. Not to mention that Rin got off earlier to prepare for After School Navigator’s performance that night, so the lack of help made the afternoon much more frantic and stressful. There had been quite a few rude customers that day; including the few people who came in just to use the free Wi-Fi and didn’t even consider buying anything. One of them had been a teenage boy who tried to flip up Nozomi’s skirt to get a glimpse of her panties. At the sight of that Umi had immediately yelled at the boy and forced him and his trouble-making friends out of the café. While she regretted that she lost her temper in front of the customers, Nozomi had been proud of how she handled it. “Wait until I tell Elicchi that Umi-Chan saved me!” she raved. Umi didn’t see any reason to be excited. If anything, it would result in Eli doing worse to those kids than Umi would have considered. If Eli reacts the way she expects she’s planning to suggest getting in contact with their mothers as an alternative. They were wearing the uniforms from the Kaisei Academy, the local all-boys high school, so it wouldn’t be too hard to identify them.

 Why couldn’t those kids distract themselves with music instead of harassing poor Nozomi? Though to be fair she hasn’t been able to play her violin in a good while. She doesn’t like to think about possibly being out of practice, but sadly it takes away from precious study time which she desperately needs. At the thought of her violin she remembers something Honoka brought up a few weeks ago. She claimed that it was a citywide violin recital and that Umi would win for sure. From her comments, it seems more like a competition than a recital, but remembering it suddenly peaks her interest. The only issue would be when it would be. It can’t be too close to the holidays because it would interfere with family time, and it can’t be too close to her exams.

“Umi-Chan!” A voice calls from the front counter. “Almost done cleaning up?”

“Just a second, Nozomi! I’m on my last one,” she dries another plate and starts cleaning the last. “You don’t want me to lock up? You could leave earlier if you want.”

Her voice gets closer, “I’m going to see Nicocchi’s show tonight. Elicchi’s having a sleepover with her little sister tonight, so I was just about to ask you to join me!”

“Are you just asking because you’re going to be drinking?” Umi responds in a deadpanned tone. She turns off the sink and dries her hands with a nearby towel.

Nozomi laughs. “No, I just enjoy your company. Let’s just go have fun!’ She beckons her to the front and grabs the keys from the pocket of her heavy jacket.

Before she follows her boss out, she puts on her winter jacket and sends a quick text to Eli.

_Just a warning; Nozomi’s probably going to be drinking tonight._

_Keep an eye on her for me please! And make sure she gets home safely!_

_Will do._

She sends another to Kotori to let her know that she won’t be home for dinner that night, and follows Nozomi to her car.

It still impresses her that Nozomi has a car. Despite her being only a year or so older than Umi how she lives seems so stable. It’s almost a goal for her to be able to be well off enough to afford a nice car in almost a year or two. Though sadly she imagines that it won’t be until the far future until that happens.

“I’m so excited to hear Nicocchi play again,” she raves excitedly as they drive to the venue. The car’s very cold, and the heat’s taking too long to start up. Desperate to warm up Umi shoves her hands into her jacket pockets.  “She really is talented. Don’tcha think so too, Umi-Chan?”

“Yes, I can tell she’s very dedicated to what she does. She seems to have made a lot of sacrifices for that band,” she pauses hesitant to bring up her worries concerning Nico. She wonders if she’d be nosy to ask too much, but if Nozomi hasn’t noticed anything wrong with what seems like one of her closest friends someone must tell her. “Do you know if there’s anything going on with her?”

“Why do you ask? Did she tell you anything?” Her expression noticeably shifts to a look of concern.

“No, she’s seems to have some… Well…. Drama with her bandmates. When I had her over last night she seemed upset, and we all… We all gave her a hug… And I could have sworn I heard her crying.”

“Oh no…” Nozomi’s expression worsens. Of course, she’s been worrying about Nico just as much or most likely more than Umi has. All of this had to have been going on long before Umi and Nico met each other. “I have no clue what’s going on with her, Umi-Chan…Whenever I bring up her bandmates or her band in general she doesn’t talk as much, and she tries to avoid the topic as much as possible… She always used to tell me when she wasn’t feeling right, but now…” She’s afraid that Nozomi’s going to start crying because of her melancholy tone. She really is like a mother to Nico.

“Do you know why she may be feeling like this?” She puts her hand on Nozomi’s shoulder to try to comfort her.

“She hasn’t told me anything. I have my own speculations, but I don’t want to share anything that’s private.”

“I understand completely; this is Nico’s business and I’m practically an outsider.” Though she admits to herself that it doesn’t mean she’s not curious. “I’m worried about her, but I think the best thing for me to do is to sit to the side and help her if she wants to confide in me.”

“I admire your patience, Umi-Chan. I wish I could say the same for myself, but I can’t help but worry and feel like I should interfere. I know it’d just make the whole situation worse though.”

“You’re doing your best for right now. Nico’s lucky to have someone like you in her life. I know that her going to your apartment last night must’ve really made her feel wanted. Maybe even inspired.”

“You’re so kind,” her face brightens a bit.

“I’m not just saying this out of kindness, Umi-Chan. I know for a fact that you helped her. At least a little bit… She called me earlier today telling me how she’s inspired to start writing lyrics for their next album when she’d been completely out of ideas lately. As soon as you mentioned you had her over last night I could tell that you inspired her.”

“That’s such…” Umi’s forming words in her mind but they aren’t coming out the way she wants them to. “I can’t believe…”

“I can tell you’re very worried about her too. Not only could I see it on your face, but the cards predicted that change would come. And that the sadness would leave Nicocci’s heart, but there are still troubles ahead.”

“What change?”

She gives her a knowing look. “Isn’t it obvious?” Umi shakes her head obviously confused. “If you don’t know yet don’t come to me for answers. You and Nicocchi will find it eventually.”

“Also, something that she said confuses me. She said that she doesn’t have many friends around her age that she could spend time with, but she has you and Eli-san and her bandmates.”

“Hmm… I think she meant that she can’t really confide in me and Elicchi or her bandmates,” she looks incredibly disappointed. Almost like how a child would look after being told that she can’t get ice cream after getting a good grade on a test. “I’m not sure what’s restricting her, but I’m so glad that she got along nicely with Honoka-Chan and Kotori-Chan!”

“They are very nice to get along with anyway,” Umi comments thinking fondly of her roommates. She can’t even think of life without those two. They’d been around her since elementary school and she couldn’t imagine meeting them any other way. “We don’t mean to replace your and Eli’s places in her life,” she blurts out quickly. “I know she needs you two just as much as she may need the three of us.”

“I’m not too worried about it,” the fake smile she gives makes it obvious that she is completely worried about it despite Umi’s reassurance. “I’m glad she’s meeting new people.” As she parks the car she gives her a devilish but slightly serious grin. “You better treat my precious, Niccochi well.”

“She’s in good hands, Nozomi,” she gets out of the car. When they walk in and Umi finds a place to sit while Nozomi takes her first trip to the bar.

To the surprise of Umi a different band is setting up first, but she remembers that last week they came to the venue an hour or so later than they did tonight. So, it suddenly makes sense that another group of three girls who look like they’re just barely crossing the line between death metal and rock are onstage instead of After School Navigators. A girl with dark blue hair wearing what looks like a cape matched with a gothic Lolita outfit is front and center of the stage showing her jet-black guitar with little stickers on it off to the audience of nearly ten people. The two other members are much more focused on setting up their equipment than showing off to the audience. They’re also wearing more toned down outfits in comparison to the blue haired guitarist.

“Hello my audience of sinners,” a voice says through the speakers. It doesn’t take long for the audience to realize that the girl who was showing off her guitar is the one who’s speaking through the mic. “My name is Yoh-”

“Yocchan! Cut it out! We’re not done setting up yet,” a red-haired girl scolds her as she hooks up her bass to the amplifier.

Umi almost instantly recognizes the redhead. She’s seen her viola and piano performances before, and she’s even had the opportunity to play with her more than a few times. Even though she’s brushed every opportunity to do so to the side. She’s never been in an orchestra or competition before which the bassist girl is known for. The one detail that slips her mind is the girl’s name- “Quiet, Riri! I’m trying to make a good impression on our first audience.” She doesn’t remember it being Riri, but she figures it’s probably right.

“You’d make a better impression by helping us!”

“Enjoying the show?” Nozomi jokes and sits down with her bottle of beer in her hand.

She laughs a little. “They seem quite young and inexperienced. Even more so than Nico. Though not so much the bassist, I recognize her from classical music competitions.”

“Plus she’s in the Uranohoshi symphony orchestra,” Nozomi adds. “I’ve seen them perform quite a few times with Elicchi. I’ve heard she’s transferring to the Tokyo symphony orchestra sometime soon.”

“That doesn’t surprise me. She’s very talented.”

“Do you know who that girl is?” Nozomi points to the blonde on the drums who’s watching her bandmates looking entertained.

“No clue. She’s probably their friend.”

“Wait! She’s been to the café a few times before! I think her name starts with an M! Here’s my reward for recognizing her,” she takes a large chug of her beer. “Lucky me!”

Umi cringes a little. “Try to slow down. The last thing you need is me having to drive your drunken ass home.”

“Aw don’t be so cruel. I deserve a nice cold drink to comfort me after Umi-Chan’s harsh remarks,” she teasingly takes another large chug and enjoys it nonetheless. “Mmm! Want a sip?”

“No, we need at least one designated driver.”

“Oh! So you’re offering? Guess I can go wild then,” she presses the bottle to her lips as if she’s about to take another big chug.

“No! I do not feel comfortable driving your car!”

Nozomi laughs and puts the bottle back on their table. “Just kidding. If Elicchi were to catch me completely drunk I’d have hell to pay!”

“Eli’s much stricter than I would have imagined…”

“Only when I’ve been naughty,” she winks.

“Ugh Nozomi. Why must you be so shameless?”

“That’s a question you should ask Elicchi. She’s the one who likes it.”

Umi’s about to scold her again, but she’s interrupted by the blue haired girl’s voice. “Greetings my little demons!” A small round of applause can be heard from the tables closer to the stage. “I am your favorite fallen angel Yohane! And this is my demonic lover Riri,” she refers to the bassist who blushes. “And my favorite little demon Mari,” she points to the drummer who smiles and gives a peace sign. “And we are… The Fallen Angel Yohane and Her Little Demons!” The bassist pinches her. “Ouch! I mean… Guilty Kiss!”

“At least they’re guilty about such a shameless act,” Umi comments causing Nozomi to laugh.

“Ready?”

“Mattenai yo...Love!!”

As the music starts the two become increasingly more and more impressed with the performance. Even though the band members themselves seem quite young and inexperienced they completely rocked the place. They are a definite force to be reckoned with for the bands to follow. A small group of girls dance near the front of the stage and cheer them on. “Go Yoshiko-Chan!” “I love you, Mari!” Umi assumes that they’re their friends and tries to concentrate on the music instead of on their shouts. She can’t help but smile watching their performance. It reminds her of when her Kotori and Honoka were in high school, and they tried to get her to form a band too. She can’t help but feel regret for not carrying on with it when she sees how much fun the Guilty Kiss girls are having onstage. Though this performance doesn’t hit her the same way After School Navigators does, she enjoys it anyway.

When the first song ends Yohane provides an interlude. “I assume my little demons enjoyed our first song of the night. Our next song is even more satanic than the last! Ready Ma-”

“Can’t you just leave me alone?!” A high-pitched scream comes from backstage.

The audience as well as Guilty Kiss goes into a stunned silence. Yohane looks at her band members confusedly but shrugs. “Um anyway…” She cues the others and the next song kicks up.

“Umi-Chan,” Nozomi cries, “That sounded like Nicocchi! We have to go back and check on her!”

“Oh gods… You might be right. I could recognize her voice...”

They leave all their things at the table, and Umi quickly asks a couple sitting near them to keep an eye on it before running off. Her and Nozomi hurry past the tables, say “excuse me” to people who are in the way, and past the front of the stage. They make it to the backstage doors and luckily for them they aren’t locked. They hurry through a long hallway with ugly green colors painted onto the walls making the situation a little more unbearable. Not to mention the dozens of tacky pictures of the obscure local bands who’ve played here hung all on the walls. Guilty Kiss’s music boomed over the sound of their shoes hitting the floor. In this moment Umi wishes she could’ve listened to the rest of their songs under better circumstances, but it’s only a small thought that’s racing through her mind at this point. It’s harder to comprehend the lyrics by time they’re at the end of the hallway, but the music itself is still very audible. They finally make it to where the dressing rooms are and more importantly where Nico is.

“Nicocchi-” Nozomi almost calls out, but stops abruptly.

Nico’s right there in that hallway but something is terribly wrong. Across from her are Rin and Hanayo in tears who are both being dragged away by a stern looking redhead. The redhead has her fists clenched looking slightly bruised. Even though the two are being dragged by her they’re also hugging onto her arms. Almost for protection or comfort. Then there’s Nico sitting in the middle of all hallway, her back facing Umi and Nozomi. Her head is lowered almost in shame and she’s crying softly.

“Oh Nicocchi…”

Her head turns. “Nozomi-Chan?” That’s when they see it. Her nose is bloody, her cheek is bruised, she has a black eye, and on top of it all tears are streaming down her face. That’s not including the possible damage done to the rest of her body.

“Oh my gods…” Umi gasps. When Nico’s eyes meet hers they immediately dart in a different direction and continue to fill with tears. “Nico… What happened to you?” She takes a quick glance at the three who are leaving the sickly green hallway. “Who’s that girl walking away with Rin and Hanayo? Do you- Is she… Did she have something to do with this?” No answer. “Nico, did that girl hurt you? Is she the one who gave you those bruises?”

“Ssh Umi-Chan, we shouldn’t jump to conclusions,” Nozomi puts her hand on Nico’s shoulder comfortingly. She also glances at the redhead and her eyes widen with realization. “That’s Maki-Chan… Maybe I should…” Umi rushes over to the redhead before she can finish her sentence without a second thought. “Wait Umi-Chan-”

“Excuse me,” Maki’s already glaring at her. She’s standing outside of a dressing room that says ‘After School Navigators’ on the door and seems very eager to get inside. “Can you please explain to me what happened here?”

“It’s none of your business,” she grumbles.

“Nico is my friend. I just want to know what happened to her.” She notices Rin giving her an apologetic look despite the rush of tears on her face. She nods slightly at her as a sign of recognition and understanding that she had barely a role in this conflict.

“Then ask her yourself.” She pushes the door open and says “What she does with herself doesn’t concern me anymore. She needs to learn how to leave Rin and Hanayo alone,” before slamming the door in her face.

“You couldn’t even tell me what you’re doing here,” Umi mumbles mostly to herself.

Her expression must look dreadful because Nozomi says “It’s okay, Umi-Chan. You handled that better than I thought you would. I’m proud of you.” It’s surprising to her how easily these words calmed her. At least a little bit.

“Thank you, Nozomi,” she sighs. “Who even was that?”

“Ah, that was Maki-Chan. An old friend of mine and Nicocchi’s.”

“Do you think she’d do something like this?”

Nozomi puts her hand to her chin seemingly in deep thought. “I’m not sure. She had been irrationally from time to time and a little touchy, but nothing to this level. It just depends on what happened before we showed up…” Her expression darkens almost as if she knows something that Umi doesn’t.

She decides not to press further and diverts her attention back to the crying girl on the floor. “Nico, are you really not going to tell us anything? We want to help you.” No response. Umi can’t help but feel slightly hurt, but it’s probably nothing compared to what Nozomi’s feeling. If Nico can’t even speak to the girl who is apparently her closest friend, then she obviously won’t for anyone else. “Do you need anything?” Nico shakes her head no. “Do you want to go home?” she shakes her head again. “Are you planning on playing with your band still?” she nods in response. “I know you want to, but you shouldn’t do this to yourself. You’re injured and probably aren’t in the best state of mind.”

 “It might be best to take her to one of our apartments,” Nozomi suggests. “Some good company, nice warm food, a hot bath, and a relaxing rest would do her good. And we should do it now. There’s no way that she can perform in this state.”

“You’re right. Going onstage like this could be very hazardous.”

“No,” Nico croaks, “I need to play.”

“Nico, you’re not well. You shouldn’t be playing tonight.”

She shakes Nozomi’s hand off her and stands herself up. “I’ll go with you after I play. I promise.” She walks down the hallway towards the stage. She has a noticeable limp and she’s putting too much pressure on her right leg. There’s no way to tell if there are more bruises on her legs because of the long stockings she’s wearing. She doesn’t exactly need medical attention, but it would be wise to get someone with experience to examine her injuries.

“Nico stop! You’re only going to hurt yourself more.” Umi reaches to grab her but is quickly swatted away. She pulls back her hand in surprise and stares at her.

 “I’ll be fine. Just let me do this.”

As Nico goes to walk away she tries again, but this time Nozomi stops her. “If we push any further I’m afraid what might happen… She could easily flat out reject going back with us, and make some stupid mistake.” The saddest part to Umi is that it sounds like she’s speaking from experience. Like something similar to this has happened to her and Nico in the past.

“But she obviously can’t play while she’s so beaten and bruised like that.”

“You know as well as I do that she’ll find a way,” she sighs. “I don’t know what to do, Umi-Chan…”

Umi hugs her to comfort her and says “I don’t either, but we’ll take care of her as soon as she’s done onstage… I’m sure everything will work out.”

They fall into an uneasy silence as Nico limps through the hallway. They can hear the faint sounds of Yohane’s voice from the stage. It’s a little difficult to comprehend what she’s saying. Something about her demons and the previous songs they’d played. She announces that their next song will be their last for the evening. Umi’s stomach drops knowing that it gives After School Navigators barely any time to get their shit together. She looks at Nozomi to see the same look of realization on her face.

“Let’s go back to our table and try to relax,” she suggests. “If… If anything goes wrong we’ll be right there to help her.”

“I guess that’s the only thing we can do right now,” Nozomi agrees.

They walk back out from the backstage hallway, and to their table where all their things are still there. As soon as they sit Nozomi fishes through her purse; probably to find her cards. Guilty Kiss’s last song of the night becomes the background music for Nozomi’s search for some sort of answer. It’s terrible how this is how the two of them will most likely remember their music. All Umi can do in the meantime is watch with an uneasy feeling continuing to grow inside of her. What if Nico trips and hurts herself onstage? What if her other bandmates don’t show up because they were crying earlier? What if the redhead berates her onstage and publicly humiliates her? What if Nozomi doesn’t find the answers she’s looking for in her cards? What if-

“Everything is going to be okay,” Nozomi sighs in relief. She’s clutching a card to her chest looking hopeful. “The cards told me that there will be troubles to begin with most likely referring to tonight, but after this will mark a change for Nicocchi. It depends greatly on the choices that all of us make of course. Though if we do what’s best for her there will be considerably less hardships in the near future.”

Umi bites her bottom lip slightly. “I’m assuming that there’s no fine details on if anything else will happen tonight.”

“The cards aren’t exact, but whatever comes we can help Nicocchi through it. I trust that the cards will be leading us in the right direction.”

Umi wonders since when has Nozomi become so mature. She has plenty of memories of her boss being aloof and playful, but barely any of her in this state. Only in very serious situations which luckily for them don’t come up at work too often. Though this isn’t a bad thing. Umi takes comfort in knowing how she reacts and adjusts herself according to the situation at hand. She’s much more responsible than she gives her credit for most of the time.

Umi turns her attention back to the stage where the members of Guilty Kiss are giving their farewells. “So long my little demons! Remember that Yohane loves you all!” Before she can show off more the blonde girl pulls her off the stage whilst waving at their audience.

“I like her aura,” Nozomi gives a small smile. “Maybe I’ll come early again next week so I can fully enjoy their performance.”

“That sounds nice. Would you mind if I joined you?”

“You don’t have to ask, Umi-Chan. You’re always invited,” she smiles warmly. “Maybe Elicchi could join us too. She had been pretty sad that she missed out on seeing Nicocchi today.”

“Maybe it’s for the best that she didn’t see what happened,” she frowns slightly. She doubts that she’ll be able to get the memory of Nico crying on the floor bleeding and bruised out of her memory anytime soon. “Do you think we should give her a call to tell her what happened?”

“I don’t want to worry her too much. We’ll wait until we bring Nicocchi back to rest.”

That brings up another issue. “Where are we going to take her?”

“I think she would be best off in your hands, Umi-Chan.”

“I have no problem with this, but I don’t want you to be concerned by not being able to keep an eye on her. Not saying that I’m not going to worry about her either.”

“It’ll be okay. I think that her staying with the three of you overnight would be perfect,” there’s the fake smile again, but her words are anything but untrue. “I honestly would have liked to have her stay with Elicchi and me, but your environment is just what she needs.”

“But Nozomi-” Before Umi can continue something on the stage catches her eye. It’s After School Navigators setting up, but it’s being done in complete silence. Them and the rest of the audience could easily feel the tension onstage without even knowing what happened just minutes ago. “This doesn’t feel right at all.”

When she looks over Nozomi looks surprisingly hopeful. “I know that she can make it through this. She’s still going to put smiles on the faces of her fans. We shouldn’t doubt her.”

“That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be concerned though,” she points out.

“I still am, but for a second back there I had begun to lose my faith in Nicocchi. I was worried that she wouldn’t be able to crawl out of this hole she buried herself in, but something inside of me is telling me that she’s making the right decision.”

“We’re After School Navigators,” Nico speaks into the mic. Her voice sounds raspy and raw. “And sorry if I sound like ass tonight.”

They start in with their first song and by the sound of Nico’s voice it’s already taking a major toll on her. “How long should we let this go on for?” Umi asks Nozomi who’s taking a sip of her almost forgotten beer.

“As soon as Nicocchi’s ready to stop I suppose,” she says.

The first song concludes and there hadn’t been much of a difference from the last time Umi saw them. The only changes were Nico’s croaky voice, her lack of energy, and of course the increased tension between the three. Plus Hanayo’s tone had sounded very somber despite the song being fun and a little more upbeat. Then there’s Rin who had very little emotion in her tone to hide whatever she was feeling inside of her. Though the loud and yelling parts of the song were where she shined that night since she probably used them to let out some aggression or sadness inside of her. Nico’s tone was harder to read than usual due to how pained her vocal chords were. The instrumentation wasn’t bad, but Umi had noticed a few rough points in the song where they weren’t playing at the same speed or Rin was ahead of the other two.

“Why is the guitarist so beaten up?” A girl sitting near Umi and Nozomi asks her friend.

“You know musicians,” the friend replies, “they always get into dumb shit. She probably got beat up by their manager or a drug dealer.”

“Yeah right,” the girl laughs. “These girls haven’t been around long enough for something **that** dramatic to happen.”

Umi tries to ignore the rest of their conversation and watches the three onstage prepare for the next song. “Asobou! Hajimemashite no Happy tune,” they begin to sing out in harmony. Nico seems to be trying to put a little more energy into this song. She’s doing a little dance while she plays her guitar and while it’s amusing Umi worries that she’s going to sprain something or twist her ankle. The spotlights dance around as they all sing their little parts of the song. It’s a little frantic and Nico keeps up her dancing even during the moments where she doesn’t have to sing. Was this song this frantic the last time? She even decides to tease her audience by getting closer to the edge of the stage. Umi tries to remember if she’d done that the last time. But in a blink of an eye just as Nico’s singing “raibu wa dou kana” there’s a loud crash and everything goes silent. The audience gasps and Nozomi shouts “Nicocchi!”

Umi runs up to the front of the stage where Nico is lying on the floor passed out on top of her guitar. The girls who had been sitting in the front for Guilty Kiss’s performance also rush over some bringing glasses of water and a wet napkin to put on her forehead. Nozomi’s also next to her to hold her hand and check her injuries. Her bandmates are on the edge of the stage watching in a complete shock. Hanayo’s crying as Rin hugs her tightly telling her that Nico’s okay. In the meantime, Nozomi is pointing out a bump on the back of Nico’s head which had probably been caused by the fall. Suddenly Nico’s eyes are fluttering open and she’s noticeably panicked.

“Wh-What happened?” She’s staring at the people around her with fear in her eyes. “Did I-? No no no! I have to keep playing.” She’s trying to get herself up but she’s too weak.

Nozomi steps in. “Please try to relax, Nicocchi! You took a horrible fall and you can’t hurt yourself more by being uncooperative. Umi and me are going to take you to her apartment so that you can get rest. It will all be over with quicker if you just listen to us.”

“But-”

“Please, Nicocchi.”

“I need to-”

“Nico, be quiet and listen to Nozomi,” Umi demands. “She trying to do what’s best for you! And you could at least try to be respectful!” Nico becomes dead silent and has a look of total shock on her face. “Should I carry her out to your car now, Nozomi?”

“Carry?” Nico somehow has an even more stunned expression on her face.

“Sure, I’ll see which staff members I need to talk to,” she hands Umi her keys. She lowers her voice to a whisper and says “Don’t be too hard on Nicocchi. She’s having a rough night.”

“I’m sorry, but that was what she needed to hear,” she whispers back. “She has to realize that you want to help her.”

Nozomi only nods in response and then rushes off to talk to a manager. Before Umi can take her out one of the Guilty Kiss fans say “I hope you get better, Nico-Chan!”

“Don’t worry about her,” Umi says to them kindly. “Nozomi and I will take good care of her.”

“Aww you’re such sweet friends,” the girl coos. “Hopefully I’ll see you playing again next week, Nico-Chan!

She smiles at the girl and mumbles “thank you” as Umi bends over to pick her up. Umi notices quickly how light Nico is. It’s almost like picking up a sack of flour from the café which isn’t very heavy to her in the slightest. Possibly because of her somewhat athletic build after all the years she’s lived in a dojo and visits it to practice archery very occasionally.

Though another thing she notices is the heat practically radiating from Nico’s body. “Do you have a cold? You’re very warm.” She shakes her head, but despite that Umi still puts her hand on her forehead to check. “We should get you back, you’re burning up.” Just like before there’s no answer from her, but Umi’s sort of getting used to it.

Before she carries Nico out of the venue and to the parking lot she grabs her things from the table and attempts to maintain her composure. It’s a little hard with a sickly beaten up friend in her arms who could possibly be permanently injured for the rest of her life thus ruining her career. She’s seen it all the time in orchestras and in the dojo. It can even happen to beginners who accidentally hold the bow wrong or trip over their instrument and land on their wrist. She desperately hopes that Nico doesn’t have the same fate because when she sees her onstage it’s almost like she belongs there. It doesn’t seem right to have to take the spotlights off her for the rest of her life. Especially with how early she’s into her career.

“Oh shit,” she hears Nico mutter and notices that she’s starting shivering.

“What’s wrong?”

“All of my things are back in the dressing room,” she says. “Including my jacket…”

They’re standing right outside Nozomi’s car. It’s a little late to turn back now so Umi says “It’s okay, I’ll text Nozomi and have her grab everything for you on her way out.” She unlocks the car and lays Nico down in the backseat. She quickly turns on the engine to get the heat running so that she doesn’t freeze to death. It’s surprising to Umi how casually Nico wears her skirts in these cold winter months. She can’t help but to look back on winter in high school as being hell because of the short uniform skirts. “I’ll be right back. I need to call Honoka and Kotori.” Nico only nods in response and lies her head down as Umi shuts the car door.

She sends a quick text to Nozomi then calls Honoka. Luckily, she picks up right away.

“Umi-Chan? What’s up?”

She hears Kotori in the background. “Honoka-Chan! You have to help me with dinner!”

“I’m sorry! I’ll be really quick!” She goes back to talking to Umi. “Sorry I can’t talk too long Kotori-Chan will cook me in her miso soup if I don’t help out.”

“Honoka, I’ll explain everything when I get home, but to sum it all up… Nico’s injured pretty badly so we’re going to take care of her tonight.”

“Wait what?! What happened to Nico-Chan?!”

“Stay calm Nozomi and I have everything under control. Like I said I’ll explain everything when I get there.”

“Okay… Are you guys leaving soon? I can start up a bath for her and Kotori’s almost finished making dinner.”

“I’ll be home very soon. And that would be perfect. Can you also make sure my bed isn’t… Unseemly?”

Honoka snorts. “’Unseemly?’ You’re talking like you’d have a sex to-”

“Do not finish that sentence! I would never own something so shameless in my life!”

“I’m sorry, Umi-Chan,” she says but she’s laughing.

“Please try to be serious!”

Noticing the somber tone of her voice Honoka stops laughing. “I’m sorry… I’ll have everything set up for her. But does this mean you’re going to sleep on the couch tonight?”

“Of course, she needs her own space for tonight.”

“Be home soon! If you’re not, I’ll call you back I swear!”

“Don’t be worried, Honoka. I’ll be right there.” When she hangs up she notices Nozomi closing the trunk and coming around with a pink jacket in her hands with a sad smile on her face.

“And to think I gave her this jacket years ago,” she chuckles. “How’s she doing?”

“Not very good,” Umi winces. “I felt her forehead earlier and it feels like she has a fever. We should get her somewhere warm as soon as possible.”

“Then let’s get a move on!” She jumps into the drivers’ seat and hands Nico her jacket. “Are you cold in here, Nicocchi?”

She’s too tired to sit up to put her jacket on, so she lays it on herself like a blanket. “I’m better now. Thank you, Nozomi-Chan.” Umi gets in on the passengers’’ side and she says, “And thank you too, Umi-Chan.”

“It’s not a problem… Nico, can you tell us what happened?” She persists.

Nico frowns. “I’d rather not talk about it…”

“I understand, Nicocchi.” They’re already out of the parking lot and on the way to Umi’s apartment. “Just get some rest and I’ll come visit you tomorrow after work.”

“Nozomi, if you want her to stay with you and Eli I can take up your shift tomorrow. It’s really no big deal.”

“No, it’s okay,” she smiles. “I have to finish training Rin-Chan anyway. Plus, I’m planning on leaving earlier just to check up on you two.” She gives her a wink and goes back to driving. Leaving Umi just to sit with her own thoughts and wonder.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also if there are any spelling/grammar mistakes please let me know asap!


	4. Drunken Daydreams

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nico's still acting weird after Umi and Nozomi take her to the apartment. They're all worried for her but are here to support her no matter what.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow that took longer than I expected! I can never be certain when I can update but I do my best. School's started again, but I don't plan to stop anytime soon. Hopefully I won't have to rewrite my next chapter as many times... ha ha

Kotori makes the best miso soup. It’s always brimming with flavor since she uses fresh ingredients and has just the right amount of spices. She puts her entire heart and soul into making it. Or just uses a special ingredient to make it taste better which seems a bit more practical. Either way nobody else’s could top that taste. Well at least in Umi’s opinion. And from what she can tell their two guests that evening feel the same way.

“Excellent as always, Kotori-Chan,” Nozomi compliments with a smile. “I can’t thank you enough for letting me join you.”

“It’s not a problem at all!” The pleased smile on her face is the cherry on top. Umi can’t help but crack a smile, as she enjoys her dinner. “You’re always welcome here, Nozomi-Chan! And you too, Nico-Chan! Nothing less for our favorite guests.”

“Aw how nice of you. Elicchi and me should have all of you over for dinner sometime to thank you! Kotori-Chan would love Elicchi’s famous pelmeni!”

“That sounds wonderful! Would you want to join us too, Nico-Chan?”

Silence. Immediately Umi worries that she’s refusing to talk again. She’s hardly spoken since they came in. Only really to greet Kotori and Honoka and some slight small talk. “Nicocchi, it’s rude not to respond.” Nico mumbles a “thank you” as she shovels the soup into her mouth. Mama Nozomi to the rescue; Umi breathes a sigh of relief. Though she’s not savoring like the rest of them. “Don’t make yourself even sicker,” she tells her.

“I haven’t eaten all day,” she says in between slurping down the soup.

“That’s not good table manners, Nico-Chan,” Honoka teases her playfully. “Maybe we should feed her like a baby, so that she doesn’t make a mess.”

“I’m not a baby,” she grumbles obviously not in the mood for any kind of playful banter. “What makes you think I am one?”

Honoka points to the broth that practically covers her face and shirt which had already been stained with blood. There seems to be an unspoken agreement to not mention it. “ **That** and the way Umi-Chan carried you in earlier.”

“You say to the person who can’t walk.”

“Don’t bring me into this,” the conversations are awkward enough as is. She’s pleased to see that Nico’s not refusing to eat, but there’s still tension looming underneath all the laughter and good food. Maybe not to everyone else, but she feels it whenever Nico opens her mouth to talk. Not to mention how every time she looks at Nico’s beaten and bruised face she feels… Regretful for not meeting her sooner and confused since she has no clue why she was beaten so badly. As much as she wants to ask again she knows that Nico won’t answer, not to mention that it would ruin the somewhat higher spirits that everyone’s in. Despite hers of course.

Nozomi seems to pick up on what she’s thinking and nods. Most likely a nonverbal way to assure her that there’s nothing to worry about. Since she’s trying to remain hopeful Umi can attempt to force herself to do the same. “Looks like baby Nicocchi is getting a little cranky,” she joins in on the teasing. “We might have to send you to bed early tonight.”

“I’d rather sleep anyway,” she stops to swallow her soup. “Speaking of which, where am I going to be sleeping?” Not even trying to hide her eagerness to change the subject…

“Don’t worry! I cleaned up Umi-Chan’s room, so you can sleep there.”

“And I left some old pajamas in there for you.”

“Honoka, Kotori, I appreciate that, but where’s she going to sleep then?”

“Don’t worry about me,” Umi replies. “I was planning to sleep on the couch anyway,” she refers to the lumpy couch in the living room. A gift from her grandmother after they moved in a few years prior. They’d been meaning to replace it for a while now, but never got around to actually doing anything.

“Do you really want to sleep on that old thing?” Kotori scrunches up her nose. “You might get a backache again.”

She winces remembering the last time she fell asleep on it. The pain she felt when she woke up the next morning reminded her of being her in father’s dojo as a young kid, but even worse. “I can manage,” she promises. “The last thing Nico needs right now is more pain.” She notices Nico giving her a look. She doesn’t quite understand what she’s trying to say.

“Umi, it’s fine. I don’t mind sleeping on the couch,” her voice sounding sincere. “I wouldn’t feel right taking your bed.”

“How sweet, Nicocchi,” Nozomi coos at her dreamily.

“I have a solution!” Honoka waves her hands up in an exaggerated motion. “You both can share!”

“Share?” they ask in unison.

“Uh-huh! I always shared a bed with Umi-Chan when we had sleepovers as little kids!”

“Honoka, we aren’t little kids anymore. Adults don’t share beds unless-” she coughs awkwardly and blushes. Why must life as an adult be so shameless? “Ahem, anyway I don’t think it’s appropriate.” She glances at Nico to see a neutral expression on her face. She probably doesn’t care one way or another as long as she doesn’t kick Umi out of her bed.

“But that’s a wonderful idea. That way Umi-Chan won’t hurt her back and Nico-Chan won’t feel guilty,” Kotori jumps in eagerly. “Having someone to snuggle next to in bed on cold nights like these are nice too!” A little too eager for Umi’s liking. Has she had that look in her eyes ever since Honoka brought it up?

She looks to Nozomi with hope. Maybe she’ll help her out- “Aww that would be adorable,” she has the same eager look in her eyes. Okay this is definitely the end. There is no way that she’ll be able to get out of this.

“Eh I don’t care,” Nico says in the middle of eating. “As long as **someone** doesn’t sneak in and take pictures.”

“That was only one time, Nicocchi,” Nozomi quickly changes her laughter into a devilish grin. “I still have it saved on my phone in case anyone’s curious.”

“Wait don’t!” Before she could be stopped there’s already a picture of a sleeping Nico clinging to someone’s arm on Nozomi’s phone. Umi can’t tell who it is since the face is cropped out, but it doesn’t matter. She can only focus on the frozen picture of Nico in deep sleep. She can’t help but to admit that the content expression on her sleeping face is very cute. Maybe she was having a good dream. Is that how she’ll look when she’s in bed with her tonight? Wait where did that thought come from? Umi shakes her head and regains her composure.

Though before Nico can attempt to yank it away she notices something. A hand caressing the sleepy Nico’s thigh. She would have ignored it except for one detail. The nails were painted red. Almost as red as the abrasive girl’s hair from earlier that night. No, it must be a coincidence, she tells herself, and before she can get a second look Nozomi’s phone is swiped from her view. Ignoring Nozomi’s reaction she tries to remember if the girl from earlier had been wearing nail polish at all. Though unsurprisingly she draws a blank. It really isn’t something she’d focus on in a time of crisis.

“Umi-Chan, are you okay?”

“Eh what?”

“You were zoning out,” Nozomi’s phone is back in her hand and Nico’s finishing her dinner with a pouty look on her face. It’s a no brainer that a girl who’s too weak to walk can’t easily wrestle a phone out of someone else’s hands.

“Don’t drool too much, Umi-Chan,” Honoka’s looking at the picture with a cheesy grin on her face. “Nozomi-Chan, how much would I have to pay you to get a picture like this of those two?”

“I think a nice dinner of yakiniku and your good company would be enough of a bribe for me.”

“Great! We’ll plan for that immediately,” she cheers.

“I said I agreed to sleeping in the same bed, but not to,” she winces, “ _canoodling_ just for a gag picture.” Besides Nico already has someone to do that with; at least per Nozomi’s picture she does. Another gag picture of those two wouldn’t hurt. Then there’s easily no reason to bring Umi in on it. “Aren’t there more important problems at hand other than the sleeping arrangement?”

The others give her a blank look, but Honoka nearly jumps out of her seat. “Oh yeah! We never discussed desert! We might have some leftover-”

“That’s not what I meant. We’ve barely talked about what we’re going to do with Nico.”

The girl in question raises an eyebrow. “What about me?”

“Shouldn’t we take you to a hospital at all?” She’s appalled that she even has to say it aloud. Why hadn’t anyone else brought this up yet? Sure, her and Nozomi discussed it loosely in the car and concluded that they should just take her to Umi’s apartment for the time being. That doesn’t mean that Nico doesn’t need to at least get looked at by a professional.

“I don’t need a hospital.”

“You fell off a stage and passed out. When I touched your forehead earlier you were hot with a fever. Not to mention how you had already been brutalized from gods know what.” There goes the unspoken rule of not bringing **that** up again.

Even Nozomi gives her a look saying that maybe she’s going a little too far. Luckily for her though she says, “I think you should go to a hospital too, Nicocchi. You’re in horrible condition and it shouldn’t go untreated.”

“It’s already bad. There’s nothing a doctor can do for me.”

“Uhm Nico-Chan,” Kotori jumps in. The concerned looks in her and Honoka’s eyes remind Umi that she still needs to explain what happened to her. They must be so confused, yet they’re trying to grasp the situation nonetheless. “How about you rest up tonight then tomorrow Nozomi-Chan and Umi-Chan can take you to the doctor? If you’re feeling and looking better by morning, we can just leave you be. Besides Honoka-Chan already ran a bath for you, so we’re in no hurry to go to any hospital.”

Thank the gods for Kotori. Only a true goddess could come up with a compromise like that, and by the way Honoka’s looking at her Umi imagines that she’s thinking the same thing. “That sounds perfect!” She gazes at Kotori nearly with stars in her eyes. “You’re perfect Kotori-Chan!” Umi smiles softly wishing she had the confidence to just spout something like that at someone. She guesses that’s just what love does to a person.

“Please, Nico-Chan,” she adds for the finishing blow. There’s no way she’s going to get no for an answer now.

“Fine,” Nico grumbles while somehow making the act of eating look angry and ferocious. “But only if **I** say so.”

“That depends,” though Umi only says it quietly to herself. She’s not in the mood for even more drama.

“Well if Nicocchi’s about to take her bath then I should go home. Elicchi’s probably worried sick.” A pang of guilt hits Umi like a ton of bricks. She’d hardly considered Eli. She couldn’t even remember Nozomi calling her in the aftermath. “Umi-Chan,” she jumps worrying that she’s read her mind, “as soon as I get off work tomorrow I’ll be over.” Okay good, but that doesn’t mean she won’t notice the guilt written all over her face.

“You don’t have to rush. The three of us should have everything handled.” At least she hopes so. If Nico’s being as uncooperative tomorrow as she is tonight the whole ordeal will be a huge pain in the ass.

Nozomi brings her empty soup bowl into the kitchen before leaving. “Wait! I can help clean up before I leave. I’d feel guilty just to eat and go.”

“Aw Nozomi-Chan,” Kotori coos, “it’s no trouble at all!”

“I’ll treat you all to dinner next week! It’s a promise!”

And with that they say their goodbyes to Nozomi, and Umi and Kotori begin to clean up. In the meantime, Honoka’s getting the pajamas for Nico for when she’s done her bath. All the while she’s cracking jokes to overshadow Nico’s pouting. While Umi’s drying dishes, she zones out and listens to their little arguments. It feels almost normal having Nico here with the three of them. Sure, she’s acting like a stubborn brat tonight, but just having her presence with them seems right.

“Hey Umi-Chan,” Kotori says in almost a whisper, “what happened to Nico-Chan? Honoka-Chan barely explained anything when she got off the phone earlier.”

“That’s only because I didn’t tell her much. I only really said that Nico was hurt and that she needed to stay here tonight. I promise, as soon as Nico gets in the bath I’ll tell you two everything.”

“Thank you,” she stops scrubbing a soup bowl for a moment. Most likely in deep thought, though Umi doesn’t question it. “As soon as I saw all Nico-Chan’s horrible bruises… And that blood on her shirt… I knew something had gone terribly wrong. I was too afraid to ask during dinner because she seemed fairly calm…”

“Calm until I told her she should see a doctor. I’m sure her injuries aren’t so bad, but it’s her emotional damage that’s the most worrying.” The image of her crying in the middle of the floor pops into her head. The utter despair and weakness that came from those cries was terrifying enough and on top of that her beaten and bloodied appearance. It makes Umi shudder every time she thinks about it. She’s just glad that Honoka Kotori or Eli didn’t have to see her in that state.

As soon as they finish the dishes Honoka rushes in and hugs Kotori from behind. “I’m back!”

She giggles “You didn’t go anywhere, Honoka-Chan.”

“I missed you anyway!” She rubs her head against her back reminding Umi strangely of a cat.

“Ahem,” the two look over at her with big loving smiles on their faces. She can’t help but think in that moment how great her roommates are. She couldn’t ask for two better people to live with, especially those who were her childhood friends. Wait she’s getting off topic. “So, Nico’s in the bath?” Honoka nods in response not letting go of Kotori. “Alright looks like I have some explaining to do.”

She leads them into the living room and they sit on the uncomfortable couch. Though none of them really mind it too much. At least Kotori and Honoka don’t since they care more about Nico’s wellbeing than their own comfort. And in this whole time Honoka still has her arms wrapped around Kotori’s waist.

Umi explains the whole story to them. Beginning with how she and Nozomi arrived at the venue early up to where she called Honoka while waiting outside of the car. It’s a little hard for her to go over the events without sounding worried and stressed. She doesn’t spare any details since she doesn’t want either of them left in the dark. Though she almost mentions how she thinks the redhead was in the picture on Nozomi’s phone, but at this point it seems more like a conspiracy theory than anything else.

“And Nozomi-Chan has no clue why that girl would beat Nico-Chan up like that?”

“If she did she never said anything to me,” she sighs. “If she does know then it’s probably something personal between Nico and that Maki girl.”

“Umi-Chan, I know I made a compromise with her earlier, but we should force her to go to the hospital tomorrow. Who knows what could happen if she doesn’t get treated. I just can’t believe she passed out.” Kotori’s twiddling her fingers nervously obviously worried.

Honoka hugs her tighter. “Everything will be okay if Nico-Chan-” The sound of the bathroom door opening makes her come to a stop. “Um- Nico-Chan! Do you need help?” No response.

“Don’t worry, Honoka, I’ll go check on her,” Umi walks to the bathroom where the door is wide open and Nico is gone. Her clothes are sprawled out on the floor as well as her used towel. She doubts that she would do that in her own home let alone here as a valued guest. Then again, she isn’t well, so maybe that’s it? She assumes that Nico’s already in Umi’s room, so she peeks her head in. Not surprisingly she’s in there, but she has something in her hands. It’s the pamphlet for the violin competition Honoka gave her just the other day. “Hey Nico.”

She whips her head around and gives her an annoyed look. Is it just Umi or does she look completely out of it? “What do you want?”

“I was just wondering if you needed any help with anything. You kind of left the bathroom a mess.” Why does this feel so awkward? Why is Nico being so harsh all the sudden? Sure, she was being cold during dinner, but not straight up rude.

“So what? You’d just get it yourself anyway right? You don’t want me to get hurt.” Wait is she slurring her words? She can make out what she’s saying but some of it is jumbled.

“Just because you’re hurt doesn’t mean you can’t be responsible for your own clothes at the very least.” She’s trying not to sound too stern, but the amount of disrespect coming from her is completely uncalled for. It’s like she’s the overworked parent of an uncooperative child. She wonders if Nozomi feels like this.

“Well just because I’m hurt doesn’t mean you can shove yourself into my life,” she shoots back. “You barely wanted to get to know me, and now suddenly that you caught a glimpse at my past you want to know more.”

“That’s not what I’m trying to do,” maintaining her composure is getting tougher. “I care about you because you’re starting to become my friend, and I don’t leave my friends without help.”

“I’m not your friend,” her icy words sting as soon as they come out. “If anything, I’m a friend of a friend. An acquaintance. There is no reason at all for you to get involved in my personal life.”

That’s it. Umi’s going to lose it. “You may not see me as a friend, but Nozomi is my friend and she’s worried sick about you. Not to mention how worried Honoka and Kotori are. We’ve done nothing but try to help you and if you can respect that then I’ll have to ask you to leave.”

She doesn’t respond and lies down on Umi’s bed. “I’m going to sleep now. Don’t wake me up when you come in.”

Umi shuts the door behind her and sighs. Why is she even bothering with this girl? What she said wasn’t entirely false. She really doesn’t know Nico at all and she’s unknowingly jumped into something that’s much bigger than she thought. But that’s no excuse to accuse her of trying to snoop into her personal life. All she really asked was why she got beaten senseless which she didn’t get an answer to.

“Umi-Chan? What happened?” Honoka and Kotori must’ve heard the outburst from the living room. They’re both standing outside of the bathroom unsure of what to do with Nico’s discarded clothes.

“She’s not being very… Rational at the moment. She doesn’t seem to understand how worried we are.”

“Yeah, we could hear most of what she said,” Honoka has a disappointed frown on her face. “Is that really what she thinks we’re doing?”

“I’m not sure…” Umi glances over to the bathroom and goes to pick up the clothes. “I doubt she’ll pick these up herself.”

“She made that painfully clear,” Kotori mumbles glumly as she goes to help.

Honoka picks up Nico’s pink winter coat on the floor and says “But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t keep trying to help her! She might be calmer in-” Something falls out of one of its pockets onto the shower mat. She picks it up and her eyes widen slightly. “This is probably why she’s being so irrational.”

She displays to Umi and Kotori the smallest bottle of liquor they’ve ever seen. It’s completely empty and has a missing lid. “Oh my gods,” Kotori whispers. “Do you think…? Where would she…? Maybe…”

Umi’s at a loss for words. It makes sense, but how could that little amount get her to the point that she’s at? She’s not exactly an expert when it comes to alcohol. There’s probably a large amount of alcohol in that for her to get drunk so quickly. Wait did she drink that before or while bathing? That doesn’t sound very healthy…

“Do you think we should confront her…?” Kotori’s so worried to the point where Umi notices her hands shaking. She hasn’t seen her like that in years. The poor girl…

“We should wait until tomorrow. When Umi-Chan talked to her… She wasn’t very happy.” She’s holding Kotori’s hands to calm her down. “Besides didn’t she say she was going to sleep? We shouldn’t wake her up because of this.”

“You’re right, Honoka,” she sighs. She wishes she could be as outwardly calm as Honoka is right now, but it’s hard for her to hide the worry she feels. She can hear it in her voice, she feels it coursing through her veins, and it won’t leave her no matter what she tells herself. “We should probably settle down so that we don’t wake up Nico.”

So, the three of them sit Nico’s clothes in their hamper and throw the empty bottle in the trash. They decide to go watch TV for a little while. At least to get their minds from Nico for the time being. Honoka turns on a cooking show and drools over it for a few minutes despite her eating dinner nearly a half hour ago. “Kotori-Chan,” she whines, “make me desert.”

She only chuckles and says “How about tea instead? It’s getting late.”

“Agreed, the last thing you need is an upset stomach.”

“You too, Umi-Chan?” She rolls around restlessly and groans.

While she’s rolling her eyes Kotori’s nearly cooing with affection. “I’ll go make us some anyway, but Honoka-Chan, I’ll make yours extra sweet.”

Honoka looks like she may cry. “Kotori-Chan, I love you so much!” She clutches her torso and actually starts crying. “You’re wonderful!”

This is nothing Umi isn’t used to. In the past, she’d cringe or hide her eyes at displays of affection like this, but now she only does that when they kiss. It’s still progress. Though she can’t help but feel kind of empty when she watches them. Like she’s being left out. The three of them always have done everything together, but then two of them decided they loved each other more than the third… Of course, that wasn’t their intention. Umi has a need for affection too even though she won’t openly admit it. Luckily for her she’s fairly good at burying these feelings, so that she doesn’t cause trouble for Honoka and Kotori. As the years have passed she’s felt more and more content with it and finally can feel like she’s moved on. At least that’s what she thought… Why are these feelings of envy returning now of all times? She pushes those thoughts to the back of her head and realizes that Kotori’s asking her something.

“Umi-Chan, do you want any?”

“Tea? No thank you. I think I might just go to bed soon anyway. I’ve had a long night.”

“Aw that’s okay. We’ll wake you up tomorrow so that we can make breakfast.”

“We?” Honoka forces her head away from the TV with a pitiful frown on her face. “Does this mean I’ll have to get up early? And on my day off?!”

“Don’t worry it won’t be too early,” she promises.

“I’ll see you two in the morning. Sleep well.” They both say goodnight to her with the same smiles on their faces as earlier. Umi can’t help but grin too as she’s walking back to her room.

She opens the door quietly and notices right away that Nico’s fallen fast asleep. A wave of relief rushes over her, she was worried that they’d have another argument upon her return. Luckily that’s not the case, so she gets ready for bed in the dark to not wake her. One can only imagine how she would react if Umi accidentally woke her up. Besides she needs a full night’s rest after everything that happened anyway. 

She goes to take off her sweater but freezes in place. What if Nico wakes up in the middle of her changing? What if she sees…? She hastily grabs her pajamas and creeps to the bathroom to change. It’s not worth the risk of embarrassment at all. Besides she’s never been comfortable with undressing in front of others anyway. The locker rooms in high school would always make her feel uneasy. Especially when Honoka would say something like “Woah Umi-Chan! Your calves look totally muscular!” no doubt that brought stares from the other girls leaving Umi to practically throw on her tracksuit and run out. She winces a little at the memory. While high school was a pretty joyous time for her Honoka and Kotori there are plenty of memories she’d rather keep buried. Especially… No, she’s not going to make herself worry about that tonight. There’s already more than enough as is.

She drops her dirty clothes in the hamper and returns to her room where Nico is still asleep. She crawls into bed trying not to touch or disturb her, but ends up in an uncomfortable position. Well it’s better than sleeping on the couch. She makes sure she has an alarm set for the next morning on her phone then drifts off to a troubled sleep.

 

* * *

 

_Bzzzz! Bzzz! Bzzzzzzz!_ Umi groans and grabs her phone off the bedside table. It didn’t even feel like she’d slept that long. The girl with the red hair, Nico and Nozomi were in her dreams. Two of them taunting her while Nozomi acted more as a guardian to defend her. What a restless sleep that was. She goes to turn off her alarm, but to her surprise it isn’t her alarm. It’s a phone call from an unknown number. How annoying. After silencing it she goes to lie down again, but realizes that Nico’s not in bed.

Maybe she went to get a drink of water? Without help? With her injuries?! A vision of Nico face down on the hallway floor with her face bloodied again comes into Umi’s head. Why wouldn’t she ask- Okay no Umi knows why. She’s too stubborn to ask for help most likely because of their argument.

She rushes out of the room to see that Nico’s not in the hallway or the bathroom. The lights are out in Honoka and Kotori’s room and it still looks dark outside from the windows. She grumbles at herself for not checking the time before rushing out of her room in a panic. The lights are off and there’s no sign of anyone else in the halls. Making her way into the kitchen she quickly realizes that Nico isn’t here either. Or in the living room. Or anywhere inside the apartment.

Nico’s gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You're a fan of UmiNico and want to share ideas/discuss? DM me at http://hoshikashipan.tumblr.com/ I'm always excited to hear your feedback.


	5. Another Tired Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Umi's search for Nico leads her to unexpected places and coming to unexpected realizations.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys oh my god this was a long time coming. Happy early birthday Umi! 

Thank the Gods for 24-hour convenience stores. Who knew instant ramen could taste so refreshing at almost 3 in the morning? Though if Umi was in better circumstances she’d probably be enjoying her meal a lot more. The same seems to go for Nozomi who’s anxiously twirling her chopsticks around in the broth.

She shoves a hunk of noodles in her mouth and sighs. It’s been a long night for them both. They’ve been searching for Nico together for over an hour. Umi originally wanted to look alone, but she realized that she had no clue where Nico lived; on top of that it was still snowing enough to make walking anywhere unpleasant. When she called Nozomi she worried that she’d be put in an absolute state of panic. Surprisingly enough she’s kept her composure this whole time… Well at least up until they went to Nico’s apartment. She had a key and ran in while Umi searched around the complex on foot. There was no sign of her anywhere there, and Nozomi was beginning to look distressed. It made her wonder if she saw anything in the apartment. That could be why she’s suddenly so quiet.

It gets to the point where she can’t take the silence anymore and attempts to break the ice again. “Nozomi, is there really nowhere else we can look?”

She snaps out of her daze and gives her a gentle obviously forced smile. “Well I have one last resort.”

“Rin and Hanayo?” They seemed so distraught earlier that night they’d probably take Nico in without hesitation.

“No, they live on their college campus, so I doubt Nicocchi would go there. Besides, I asked the cards and they told me she wouldn’t be there…”

“Did you see anything else in the cards?”

She furrows her eyebrows as if she’s considering not telling Umi. Is it really that bad? “There was something about Maki-Chan.” Okay she underestimated how bad it could be. “I think she may be with her.”

“Why her?” She instinctively scrunches up her nose. “Didn’t she just pummel Nico to a pulp a few hours ago?”

“It could be Nicocchi sticking to her old habits; especially if she’d been drinking.”

“You don’t mean…?” So, her suspicions were true? They really did have something together? This shameless business is really none of her concern, but… “Then shouldn’t we hurry? We don’t want her getting herself in trouble.”

“Maki-Chan lives with her parents who are doctors,” she explains. “If they saw Nicocchi looking unwell they would help her without hesitation. So hopefully that would stop her from doing something stupid…”

“We should head out anyway,” Umi offers picking up on the doubt and worry shining in Nozomi’s eyes. “Just if it’s to check if she’s okay it’s worth it.”

She nods in agreement and throws what’s left of her ramen in the trash. Umi follows suit and they prep themselves to go back out into the freezing cold morning. Not surprisingly they’re one of the few cars out in the parking lot. The others belong to the few people on staff at the store this late at night. Including the young blonde girl who worked the register who seemed way too energetic to be working the night shift; she’s the one who invited them to sit inside to eat while she restocked the shelves anyway.

Luckily the ride there isn’t long and Umi’s face to face with a gate in front of the biggest house she’s ever seen. Nozomi casually jumps out and presses the buzzer attached to the side. “Hello? It’s Nozomi Tojo,” she says, “I’m sorry to be here this late but-”

“Oh Nozomi-San!” a woman’s voice comes from the other side sounding way too sweet and inviting to be Maki. “My daughter called you over right? I asked her to after we got Nico settled in.”

She glances at Umi, puzzled, “No, ma’am I haven’t heard anything from Maki-Chan. We’ve been looking for Nicocchi all night and the cards directed us here.”

There’s a pause on the other side until she speaks again with slightly less excitement in her voice. “I apologize Nozomi-San, I don’t know what’s gotten into my daughter. Come in and I’ll tell you everything that happened.”

Umi feels a weight off her shoulders and sighs. The cards seem to be right. Though according to Maki’s mom this is something they should have known earlier. It’s starting to irritate her, but Nozomi seems much less tense and that’s all that really matters. She’ll just follow her lead on this one and try to control her emotions. The gate clicks open and with that they walk up to the entrance where an older woman is waiting for them. “I’m so glad you came,” she smiles at Nozomi. “I apologize again. I just can’t believe you were left in the dark like that.”

“That’s okay, Nishikino-san, you didn’t mean to worry us. Thank you so much for helping our Nicocchi.”

Well at least they’ll probably get to see-Wait. Did Nozomi just say Nishikino? As in Nishikino hospital? No way. Is Maki seriously the daughter of the Nishikinos?! That violent girl is a future doctor?! She can barely believe it. The shock on her face must be showing since Nozomi’s giving her a “Oh? I didn’t tell you?” look. At least she knows to stay the hell away from Nishikino Hospital once Maki officially becomes a doctor there. Wait but what if she’s already working there?! There’s no escape!

She’s broken out of her state of panic by Maki’s mother saying, “Well make yourselves comfortable and I’ll tell you everything that happened.” She smiles at Umi as she leads them to her living room, “I’m assuming you’re Nico’s friend too. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Ah yes, I’m Umi Sonoda, it’s nice to meet you.” This is so awkward. Does she not know what Maki did outside of not telling them what happened? Of course not, beating the shit out of someone isn’t exactly something you brag to your mother about. “I can’t thank you enough.”

They sit down on a couch in one of the most lavish living rooms Umi’s ever seen. It’s so modern. Art hung on the walls, a grand piano in the corner, a simple set of furniture plus a very expensive looking TV hanging on the wall in front of the couches. Maybe this isn’t as lavish as she thinks it is and she just has very little knowledge of modern styles? Then again these are the Nishikinos for crying out loud! Of course, their house is going to be completely modern and perfect!

“So, my husband and I had to work late at the hospital tonight,” she starts hopefully not taking notice of Umi’s inner conflict, “we got out around one thirty which isn’t very unusual in the winter months. We called up our chef to cook us dinner for when we got home, but just as we hung up we noticed someone face down in a pile of snow just a few feet away from the road. We immediately jumped out of the car and realized that it was Nico-san. I remembered Maki had been good friends with her, so we thought the best thing to do was to take her back here and warm her up then bring her to our hospital tomorrow morning. But… I’m not sure if you two noticed her injuries.”

“Oh yeah… She had a spill during her little concert earlier. She passed out and fell right off the stage.”

She looks more concerned than before. “Really? Though all her injuries don’t look like they’re all from just a fall. Was she maybe in a fight? I’m not familiar with the place she performs at, but is it very rowdy?”

There we go. The question they both were hoping she wouldn’t ask. “No, it’s usually very peaceful,” Nozomi states, “we didn’t see, but we’re certain that someone tried to pick a fight with her.”

“Maki went there tonight with her girlfriends, right?”

“Yes, Hanayo-Chan and Rin-Chan were there,” she answers.

Girlfriends? Umi dislikes it when adults refer to female friends as ‘girlfriends.’ It brings up too many unnecessary misunderstandings. She holds her tongue though since it’s neither the time nor place to interrupt to complain.

 “Maki was mixed up in it, wasn’t she? Did she try to hurt Nico?”

“She was…” Nozomi explains to her what they saw after they heard the shouting from backstage. Surprisingly Maki’s mom kept a straight face through the whole story. Not showing an ounce of surprise or anger in her expressions. She’s probably just trying to keep calm. “I couldn’t tell you why she did it or why she was so angry. Nicocchi’s hasn’t talked to me about Maki-Chan in a long time.”

“I figured as much,” she sighs. “As soon as she saw her Papa carrying in Nico she had a strange look on her face. I also noticed her limping earlier, so maybe Nico wasn’t as overpowered as you two might have thought.”

“Has she spoken about Nicocchi much lately? She doesn’t really talk to me anymore, so my only connections to her are Rin-Chan and Nicocchi.”

“Not that I can recall. She doesn’t usually come to me when she has relationship problems,” Umi can’t help but feel sorry for her by the way she said it. It almost seems like her daughter is far out of her reach. She seems to notice Umi’s glance and says, “I’m sorry Umi-San you’re here for Nico aren’t you?”

She nods eagerly, “Where is she now?” She can’t go searching all night and not even see the girl she was looking for. Recalling the incident only made her anxious.

“She’s upstairs. Just go out that door there, make a left and go up the set of stairs and it’ll be the first room on your right.”

“Thank you I appreciate that.”

“You go ahead of me, Umi-Chan, I’ll meet you up there.”

She doesn’t question Nozomi’s hesitation; maybe it has something to do with Nico and Maki’s personal lives. Though she’s still way too worried about Nico to even give it a second thought. Not that she doesn’t trust Maki’s mother and the sincere look in her eyes, but she must see for herself.  She follows the directions and finds that the door to the room Nico’s apparently in is cracked open a little. Ignoring this she quietly pushes open the door to not disturb her. Inside is a plain looking room, dark and quiet with a single bed in the corner of the room. She’s fast asleep on the bed, but at the side of the bed there’s someone sitting on a chair seemingly asleep. What an awkward position to sleep in… Wait who even is that? She opens the door letting in more light to reveal Maki in a restless sleep.

She hesitates but walks up to the bed anyway. Her face of course is still bruised, but she looks a little less pale than she had before. Umi gets on her knees trying not to bump into Maki. Why is she in here anyway? A thought crosses her mind. She remembers the photo and what Nozomi said earlier. Could they still have something together? Now that she thinks about it she never did see Maki hurt Nico firsthand, and of course Nico hadn’t said anything about it at all. It’s just what her and Nozomi assumed from the situation. This could all just be a misunderstanding. Maybe this was something the two of them would have worked out together and she’s just recklessly butting into it.

Snapping herself out of her train of thought she realizes she’d been staring at Nico’s sleeping face and quickly averts her eyes. This aching feeling. All from the thought that her and Maki could… Her eyes widen in understanding. She quickly lifts herself up and leaves as quietly as she got there.

What is she thinking? This is insane. _“There is no reason at all for you to get involved in my personal life.”_ She frowns at the memory. Nico was in a drunken state for sure, but maybe she was right…? Umi’s involvement is out of unconscious selfishness through and through. Sure, she would help Nozomi out in a heartbeat, but there was something else there that drove her to jump headfirst into this whole situation.

“Everything okay, Umi-chan?” Speak of the devil.

“Ah Nozomi… Sorry, I’m okay I’ve just got a lot on my mind,” she tries to explain.

“Did you see, Nicocchi?”

She nods. “She’s sleeping so I didn’t want to bother her.”

“I’m going to check on her then we can go home, okay?” She puts a hand on her shoulder. “Don’t look so sad, everything will be alright. I promise you.” The complete sincerity in her voice catches her off guard, but she thanks her anyway. It almost sounds like she understands Umi more than Umi understands herself.

She lingers in the hallway not very eager to chat with Maki’s mom again. She’s a nice woman but she’s just ready to go home and sleep. Besides she should get up early in the morning to study which Honoka and Kotori are likely to scold her for. If she’s going to be honest with herself school isn’t exactly her biggest priority right now, but it’s an excuse to get her mind away from all this for a while.

Soon enough her and Nozomi are thanking Maki’s mom once again and heading home. They’re both silent the whole way back not really needing to say much. Though Umi breaks the silence once to thank Nozomi and ask if she wants to spend the night since it’s still snowing. She declines politely and thanks her too for being there with her. She drives off and Umi stands outside in the cold for a moment just to process everything. Maybe going over what she’s going to say to Honoka and Kotori. She hasn’t decided yet. Maybe she’ll just tell them she thinks it’s best to just leave Nico alone for a little bit? That’s more rational than trying to distance herself completely, right?

She reluctantly stumbles inside slightly hoping that Honoka and Kotori are asleep, so that she doesn’t have to look at the worried expressions on their faces.

 

* * *

 

After the pressure of studying all week it’s nice to finally get some time to vent out frustration, and her father’s dojo is the perfect place for Umi to do just that. It’s refreshing to get the chance to sweat out some frustration and kick some serious ass while doing it. Especially after that incident last Friday... It’s been hard not seeing Nico or saying much to Nozomi about it, but she’s powered through it by her intensive training and studying. Besides, the holidays are coming up soon and that can be her time to rest and relax.

Though in the dojo her father is teaching a class of elementary school children today so she’s not exactly feeling the most challenged. They all seem eager and ready to fight, but aren’t ready to follow the rules and regulations of fighting. They’ve already had several kids with teeth marks in their arms today which is quite obviously not following any sort of code for martial arts. Hoping that her next opponent isn’t another cocky kid needing to be taken down a peg, she sits down to take a breather and get a drink of water. She doesn’t mind demonstrating for the kids, but it’s been pumping her up for a match with someone with a little more experience.

“Hmm what’s with these lot of kids?” She smiles at her father who walks over to get a swig of water. “I’ve seen babies with more fighting spirit in them.” He smiles back at her, “Well at least someone here has fire in their eyes.”

“Of course, father. Just look at who my parents are.”

He chuckles, “That’s very true. I’m sorry you couldn’t make it on a day where more youngers your level would be here. You must be bored.”

“Not at all. The kids aren’t hard to deal with and I’m working up a sweat at the very least.”

“Why don’t you invite your friends here? I feel like I hardly see those girls since you’ve moved out. You and Honoka-San haven’t sparred in a long time. Why is that?”

“She’s been lazier than ever before,” she sighs in response. Ever since grade school whenever Kotori went off to do her own thing, which was usually designing new outfits, she and Honoka came here to have sparring matches. With Umi’s mentoring she eventually became a pretty good opponent; always using those random bursts of energy to trip up Umi when she least expected it. “Plus, she’s been too overloaded with work school and Kotori to want to spar anymore.”

“That girl has always been a heap of trouble, huh?” He’s likely referring to the many times Honoka’s randomly shown up at their house claiming that she’s running away. It was always over something silly like her mother scolding her for not taking out the trash.

“She’s a mess, but it’s hard not to love her,” she admits. “Besides, whenever her and Kotori have a day off they spend it together. I’d rather not intrude since they don’t get much alone time at home anyway.”

 “Ah that’s just how couples can be,” he sighs putting his hand on Umi’s shoulder. “They’re not leaving you out, right?”

She can’t hold back a smile. Her father doesn’t seem like the worrying type, but when it comes to her emotional life he worries more than anyone. Any other time he whips her into shape with her training exercises. “Of course not. It’s hard to feel left out when I see them every single day,” is what she says as to not worry her father. She wishes that were true, but she’s been feeling lonelier than usual these past couple of days.

He chuckles, “It isn’t too irritating living with a couple?”

“I’m pretty used to it. Especially since it’s Honoka and Kotori, if it were anyone else I would have moved out long ago.”

“Don’t you think it’s about time you start thinking about your future partner?”

Umi freezes enveloped in the awkwardness of this conversation. “Father, I don’t think this-”

“Don’t be silly, Umi, it’s only right that as your father to make sure your love life is favorable.” Why is he being so casual about it? Is this a conversation he planned?! “Your mother and I have been looking for a romantic partner for you for some time now.” They’ve been doing what?! She feels like she could just die from embarrassment. She’s suddenly not so surprised that he was asking about Honoka and Kotori’s relationship now.

“You didn’t have to busy yourself with something so… Irrelevant.”

“It’s only your entire life how is it irrelevant?”

So he really is serious about this? “Well… If you already have someone in mind I wouldn’t want your and mom’s efforts to go to waste.”

He gives her a satisfied look. “That’s just what I like to hear. I have a feeling you and her will get along just great. I’ve already spoken to her parents about it and we discussed-”

Wait did he just say what she thinks he just said? Her? As in a female person?! Sure, Umi has never kept her preference a secret, but she can’t be that dense! No, no calm down be rational. “So does she know about the arrangement at all?”

“It was meant to be a surprise for the both of you,” he admits, “but I knew that would give you a heart attack, so I wanted to break the news sooner.”

He’s being so formal about all of this… Like it’s an arranged marriage of some sort. That’s ridiculous! Her family may be traditional but they wouldn’t set her up in an arranged marriage without her consent. If anything, this is just a rare case where her father worries about her not being capable of something he knows for a fact she is not good at. Well he’s not wrong. Umi isn’t exactly a love guru. Hell, she’s never even ‘gone out’ with a person before!

Before she gets the chance to ask another question, the door to the dojo is opened recklessly making a crashing sound. “Nyaoops! Sorry!” Rin? What’s she doing here? She glances around and spot Umi on the bench next to her father. “Oy Umi-Chan! C’mon,” her hands wave around suggesting that she wants her to come over to her.

“Excuse me a moment, father, it’s my coworker from the café.”

“Alright, you girls have fun. Stop by again tomorrow and we can continue our talk, okay? We’re trying to set up a meeting for the two of you anyway.”

She says goodbye and hurries over to see what the fuss is about.

“Rin, how did you know I was here?”

“Oh, Nozomi-Chan told me!” She stares at Umi’s face a second and tilts her head, “Why do you look so nervous?”

It must be from her conversation with her father. She shakes her head “It’s nothing. What did Nozomi want me for?”

“She told me you haven’t seen Nico-Chan since the accident!”

Oh right… The whole staying away from Nico thing had been going great until now. “I’ve been wrapped up in my training as well as school and work,” she explains.

“She’s been staying with Nozomi-Chan,” she fills her in on what the condition is. “Though when I went to see her all she asked about was when you were coming to visit, nya. She seemed pretty upset with you.”

“Upset as in angry…?”

Rin shrugs, “No clue I couldn’t tell! I hope not though. What you did for her was so super cool! I doubt anyone would try to help me out like that!”

“I mean it was mostly Nozomi, but-”

“Don’t be so modest! You did so much for her and you barely even know her! But now it kind of seems like you don’t want to see her,” she cocks her head to the side in confusion. “Did something happen? Both you and Nico-Chan are acting super weird!”

She sighs, “Well whatever is going on I’m sure the two of us can work it out.” Sure, she gave Nico her space now might be a good time to at least try to see her again. Though she prays to every god she can think of in hopes that what she was feeling the other night won’t come back again.

“Then you should come with me to visit her, nya! Nozomi-Chan and Eli-Chan will be happy to see you too I’m sure!”

“Alright why not?” Well at least she can try to put it all behind her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm glad to finally have a chapter up. Along with procrastination I've just had zero ideas of what to do with this and finally it hit me. I hope you all enjoyed it and sorry if my grammar is a little funky. Thank you all for your continued support!

**Author's Note:**

> If you have any ideas or questions please let me know! Your feedback is always wonderful to get! My Tumblr is http://hoshikashipan.tumblr.com/ if you want to discuss or anything.


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